Statutory Regulation of the Veterinary Profession: The case of Zambia
Date
2013-02-20
Authors
Chauwa, Celine P.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Statutory Regulation of the veterinary profession has only been on paper for the past two and a half decades. The Board of Veterinary Surgery responsible for regulating the profession under the Director of Veterinary Services has been defunct since the 1980's. The professional body responsible for promoting the interests of the veterinary professionals (Veterinary Association of Zambia) has also been inactive for a long time. A rather good attempt to alleviate this grave situation has been made by the passing of the Veterinary and Veterinary Para-professions Act No. 45 of 2010 which provides for the Veterinary Council to take over the Board of Veterinary Surgery and the Veterinary Association is established as a statutory body. This Essay looks at the main deficiency under the Act, which is that of the mix up in the roles, functions and structure of the now-called Veterinary Council and the Veterinary Association.
Chapter one gives an overview of the issues to be considered, namely the mix up in the structures of the two institutions as well as their basis while Chapter two extracts the rationale behind the Act by delving into the inefficiencies of the Director's regulatory role in the absence of a functioning Board of Veterinary Surgery. It concludes by bringing to the fore the inconsistencies between the stakeholders' submissions and what is obtaining in the Act. Chapter three goes on to detail the actual anomalies in the Act and concludes that a poor marriage of different concepts drawn from different professional regulatory structures accounts for much of the confusion in the institutions set up under the Act. Chapter four extracts lessons for Zambia from the separate and well instituted Veterinary Council and Association of South Africa. Chapter five recommends, among other things, a proper delineation of roles and functions between the two bodies as well as a revitalization of the advocacy role of the Veterinary Association for the good of its members and all concerned.
Description
Keywords
Veterinary---Legal Status, Law , Veterinary---Professional ethics , Medical Ethics