Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association

CbVMA Conference 2019

By Dr. Nigel elliott

Port of Spain, Nov. 7, 2019. The 31st staging of the biennial Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association (CbVMA) Conference took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad from November 4th to 7^th, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Hosted by the Trinidad & Tobago Veterinary Association (TTVA), under the theme “New Beginnings, New Horizons”, the conference sought to engage, update and educate the delegates, who came mostly from within the Caribbean, on new and existing actions, procedures and methodologies for improving the care of animals.

There were the customary oral and poster presentations, along with wet labs covering topics from clinical medicine to One Health and animal welfare. The conference was well received and enjoyed by all who were present.

A special highlight was the presence of both Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA) and World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) representatives, the latter of whom accepted a public marriage proposal from her partner at the Opening Ceremony! A highlight for JVMA was the handing over of funds raised by our veterinary community to assist final year Jamaican veterinary student Steffony Green. 

Jamaica’s delegates were JVMA President Dr. Nigel Elliott, Jamaica Veterinary Board Chairman Dr. St Aubyn Bartlett and Drs. Jason Wright, Cliff Bradford, Clover Mattocks, Kirk-Michael Harris, Kristin Moses and one of our “Trini-Jam” vets Dr. Ryan Chanona.

Andre Henry, Medical Technologist at AVS Laboratory.

October 5, 2018:

Animalcare Veterinary Laboratory’s Food and Environmental Testing section has received accreditation from the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) under the ISO/IEC 17025 Standard. It is the first private veterinary laboratory in the Caribbean and the second Jamaican veterinary laboratory to receive such accreditation. In addition, the scope of the accreditation covers thirteen (13) tests which is the greatest number that any laboratory has been given the nod for during a single accreditation exercise in the history of JANAAC.

JANAAC is the only internationally-recognized accreditation body in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Animalcare’s Managing Director Dr. Graham Brown said of his team, “I have a GREAT team at AVS Laboratory headed by Kashina Allydice-Francis and I am so proud of them.”

The accreditation is a result of four years of hard work, preparation and expenditure to enable the laboratory to meet international standards and thus be recognized wordwide.

In January of this year, the Veterinary Services Division’s Diagnostic Laboratory was accredited by JANAAC under the ISO/IEC 17025 Standard for testing of fish and fish-related products, enabling expansion of exports in that sector.

To view a short video of the VSD’s accreditation event, click HERE.