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Over the years FVE has been noticing an increasing shortage of veterinarians in rural and remote areas in Europe. For this reason, FVE sent a questionnaire addressed to the FVE Members organisations and target contacts within competent authorities, receiving responses from 28 countries.
Around 78.5% of the countries surveyed are already experiencing a shortage, and while for the rest 21.5% the shortage is not reported to be significant, evidence suggests it will worsen in the coming years.
The reasons for the lack of veterinary professionals in rural and remote areas are diverse: unfavorable working conditions, difficulties to achieve the desired work/life balance and weak demand as some farmers cannot afford veterinary services.
The consequences of this problem affect veterinarians, animals and farmers alike.
By extension, it limits the economic development of rural areas. The increased workload for the remaining veterinarians tends to lead to burnout and retention problems. In some cases, veterinarians need to engage in outside activities, such as cattle insemination, to make up for the low demand for other types of services such as preventive work.
Several countries have already taken measures to tackle the problem with different strategies.
Download the report here.
July 8, 2020/ Federation of Veterinarians of Europe/ Europe.
https://www.fve.org/
