Roxane Feller, executive director of AnimalHealtheurope, explains how nonprofits work to ensure that the future of animals is not only for them, but for everyone.
Ensuring the health and safety of all animals, from pets to farm animals, is extremely important to achieving a better society for everyone. Prioritizing animal health products supply and accessibility across Europe can help optimize health management, preserve food supply chains, and free your pets from illness.
AnimalHealtheurope is a nonprofit membership association with its mission to become the voice of the European animal medicine industry as it is dedicated to innovating and supporting the animal health sector. The innovation platform spoke to Roxane Feller, executive director of AnimalHealtheurope, to learn more about their work and the overall European animal health sector.
Could you explain in detail about AnimalHealtheurope’s goals and objectives?
AnimalHealtheurope represents European manufacturers of animal medicines, vaccines and other animal health products.
It is a nonprofit that represents both European corporate members and the National Animal Health Association. The association’s membership covers approximately 90% of the European animal health products market and represents both innovators and generics, large, medium and small businesses.
It is our mission to be the voice of the European animal health sector and to emphasize the importance of healthy pets and livestock. We strive to demonstrate the reliability and value of animal health solutions to society. Optimizing health care while contributing to sustainable food production and freeing home-sharing companion animals from illness by enabling animal health products to be prepared throughout Europe. You can do it.
Our work centers around three priority areas: health, innovation and sustainability. In short, by protecting the health of our animals, we can help protect public health and our shared environment. Innovation and sustainability are very related. Focusing on research and development of new ways to prevent, manage and protect animal health, it can support veterinarians, support farmers with more efficient agricultural practices, and pet owners. We can support you. Ensure that your pets are healthy members of our family. All this contributes to the general well-being of all European citizens.
What are the important challenges/threats to European animal health that you are currently paying attention to?
The most obvious challenge at the moment is the threat of many diseases affecting European herds and poultry herds. Over the past decades, diseases in animals across borders have been on the rise, and diseases that have previously been reported only outside of European borders are now more frequent in European soils, and are in the southern part of the continent. Not only is the climate of the city.
The EU has laws on infectious animal diseases, but current EU trade policies do not support a promotional approach to vaccination and do not necessarily allow for the uptake of vaccine use among farmers. yeah. This poses a challenge when authorities send urgent requests to develop and supply vaccines only after the emergence of an outbreak. It can be challenging in terms of timing and resources to act within the time frame required to immediately respond to an outbreak. Additionally, if the return on investment is not guaranteed in the event of non-use, it creates a certain level of risk.
Apart from conflicting with disease outbreaks and policy challenges, another potential threat to animal health may seem at first glance not to affect animal medicine production. It may arise from. Certain environmental and chemical related laws severely hinder the continued production of animal health products in the EU when a risk-only approach is adopted rather than a profit risk approach normally given to veterinarians. It may be.
What will 2025 look like for your work?
In relation to the outbreak situation, what we really want to see in 2025 is that the EU will adopt “fire prevention” rather than “fire prevention” approach when it comes to animal health.
There are four important recommendations to achieve that.
Establish regular dialogues between the animal health industry and veterinary authorities. Structured partnerships that allow industries and authorities to forecast demand and increase preparation, ensuring that predictable risks are addressed in a timely manner, creating and building trust. Develop dedicated rapid alerts and response mechanisms for animal diseases. To buy valuable time, the Chief Veterinary Officer (IES) of the country concerned will contact the industry association directly to provide a partnership of the response, at the first sign of an outbreak of cross-border animal diseases (TAD). You can set up an emergency meeting to decide. Required. Ensures animal health methods suitable for future challenges. The European Commission is currently assessing this regulation (EU) 2016/429 regarding addictive animal diseases (so-called “animal health methods”), addressing unresolved challenges and from future animal outbreaks, Europe It is an important opportunity to better protect you. Ensure European coordination of animal vaccination campaigns. Currently, member states respond in a variety of ways to one disease affecting their territory. This not only limits the movement of animals within the EU, but can also in some cases prolong the outbreak of disease in Europe. For example, through vaccination campaigns, the collaborative EU response to the outbreak of animal diseases supports a more measured and effective approach.
In 2025, we also follow the development of new EU animal welfare laws, revisions to the Animal Health Act, and surveillance of horizontal laws that could affect drug availability. We also closely follow clean industrial transaction development and initiatives to enhance the competitiveness of our sector. Of course, we will continue to focus on the above mentioned areas of health, innovation and sustainability.
How important is animal health innovation? How do you support animal health research and development?
As innovation is one of our main areas of focus, this can convey that innovation is a major priority for the animal health sector. Our member companies, on average, invest around 8% in research and development, work with a variety of research projects to help guide stakeholders in the directions needed to innovate animal health. Masu.
One such project is Dispontools, which identifies knowledge gaps, speeds up the development of new disease management tools (diagnosis, vaccines, medicines) and reduces the burden of animal diseases. The project provides information on more than 50 infectious diseases in animals and serves as a key resource for the Star-Idaz International Research Consortium and other animal health research funders, including trusts and industrial organizations.
He also regularly interacts with academics and research institutions through other EU-funded projects, such as the European partnership on animal health and welfare, Williman ID, Jamurai and more.
How important is collaboration with other organizations in your work?
For us, collaboration is key to a healthier future for animals, people, and our planets!
In the long run, working with silos and sharing information and best practices makes it hard to achieve. Therefore, AnimalHealtheurope has been participating in partnerships that have helped set up a multi-stakeholder platform on key topics, and have contributed to feedback from the animal health sector and feel beneficial to the overall outcome.
Examples of these platforms include the European Platform for the Responsible Use of Medicines in Animals (EPRUMA), European Livestock Voices, and Pet Alliance Europe.
This article will also be featured in the 21st edition of Quarterly Publication.
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