Research-based animal health companies are dedicated to the development and production of products needed to keep animals healthy. Pharmaceuticals are used to treat disease outbreaks in animals and to stop the spread of disease. Vaccines are used to prevent disease outbreaks. By providing the tools needed to maintain the health of both companion animals and food animals, the animal health industry makes important contributions to society.
Animal Health Affects Public Health
The increasing importance placed on the role of companion animals in our everyday lives draws humans into closer contact with animals, making it easier for transmittable diseases to pass between animals and humans. The use of animal health products to keep pets free of internal and external parasites, as well as treating bacterial diseases, is important to keeping both pets and their owners healthy. The ability to keep pets healthy adds to the safety and enjoyment of pet ownership.
Increased global population, coupled with rising incomes worldwide, has increased human consumption of animal protein in the form of milk, meat and eggs. As demand for low-cost, safe animal protein increases, animal producers need to have access to products to keep their animals healthy. The possibility of spreading disease via the food supply is reduced by keeping animals healthy and disease-free. Healthy animals produce healthy food.
The Economic Contribution of Animal Health Products
The primary goal of animal producers is to provide consumers with a meat supply that is both safe and affordable. Globally, it's a major challenge. Agricultural production will have to triple over the next 40 years, mostly to feed a peak world population of 8.5 billion with a growing demand for milk and protein-rich meat. Demand for high-quality protein rises wherever incomes rise.
Every loss of an animal due to disease is a cost that cannot be recouped by the producer. As a result, it is crucial that vaccines and pharmaceuticals are available to prevent and treat animal disease. The availability of these important medicines helps producers meet increased demand for low-cost animal protein products.
Animal Health Products Help Preserve the Environment
Animal health products allow producers to use less land and water to achieve current production levels of meat and poultry. For example, animal death losses of 20 percent would require 20 percent more animals to achieve the same production levels. The increased number of animals would mean more land needed for grazing, and feed production, more water, more manure requiring disposal, and more dead animal carcasses to dispose of. Animal health products enable producers to keep animals healthy and reduce the environmental impact of producing meat, milk and eggs.
3 November 2005
|
