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Abstract
The contributions of livestock to food security and
poverty alleviation are coming under increasing
international scrutiny, particularly as livestock
producers are also challenged to respond to
global warming and the emergence of new diseases.
Research is vital to increase efficiency of
production, to understand the importance of
livestock in agricultural systems and to protect
animals and people through disease control
programs. For animal health research one of the
challenges is to balance public and private efforts
and ensure that the demands for livestock and
human health are met.
Lack of incentives for cooperation between the
private and public sector has lead to the neglect of
some important livestock diseases (for example
some tick-borne diseases) and of livestock diseases
than can infect people (for example
brucellosis) that remain prevalent in many poor
countries in Asia and Africa.
New approaches are required to increase the
effectiveness of private–public cooperation in
developing new products including vaccines,
drugs and diagnostics. Among these new approaches
the Global Alliance for Livestock
Veterinary Medicines (GALVMed) builds relationships
at the outset of research and continually
manages the partnership when results emerge,
products are evaluated and opportunities arise.
A second approach is to improve the access of
poor livestock keepers to the markets for their
livestock which in turn provides access to animal
health products and the technical support to use
them effectively. Australia supports projects to
increase market access for livestock products and
animal health inputs in many Asian and African
countries.
The combination of these approaches — improving
the supply of appropriate product from
industry, and enhancing access of poor farmers to
markets — builds new pathways for research to
deliver benefits to the poor.