Evaluation of herd and flock health programmes

Authors: Harris RE
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 26, Issue 1-2, pp 26-27, Jan 1978
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock
Subject Terms: Animal health programs, Disease surveillance, Epidemiology, Management, Veterinary profession
Article class: Scientific Article

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Abstract: Rural veterinary practice faces difficulties in many parts of the world. Falling farm incomes and increasing costs have sometimes resulted in reduced use of veterinary services. There seems to be widespread agreement that an increased emphasis on preventive medicine would improve the situation for both the farmer and his veterinarian. There appear to be no commonly agreed formal criteria for the development and evaluation of health programmes, either in human or veterinary medicine, but increasing attention is being paid to the problem. In some ways the evaluation of animal health programmes should be the easier, for there are fewer ethical problems and economic criteria are of paramount importance in rural practice. In order to evaluate a programme one must first be aware of its objectives. Vague, general aims like “promotion of herd and flock health” are not sufficient; they do not lend themselves readily to measurement…

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