Report on CVA meeting at the Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association conference

On 17th November 2016, the councillors of the Canada Caribbean region held its biennial meeting in Georgetown, Guyana. Five countries were represented, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Maarten. The meeting was held in collaboration with the Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association. The Regional Representative Dr Curtis Padilla thanked councillors and representatives for attending and conveyed best wishes from the CVA executive. Councillors were reminded of the facilities available to member countries and encouraged to participate more in the book transfers, CVA grants and projects. They were asked to consider new projects for the coming year and were briefed on the joint CVA/TTVA project “Getting the Edge”. Councillors were encouraged to discuss initiatives with their local veterinarians and to model a project similar to the one in Trinidad and Tobago. In commenting on the Trinidad project, all councillors and representative believed that the model was implementable in their country and were willing to attempt one project next year. Councillors all believed that projects which focus on the veterinarians would be meaningful. Dr Padilla requested a follow up skype meeting in 3months.

CVA was also represented at the opening ceremony where greetings were conveyed to participants by Dr Michelle Mellowes on behalf of the CVA executive. CVA once again was a sponsor for the event and made a tangible contribution by supporting 4 councillors and regional representative with registration fees and partial airfare. The president of the GVA extended his thanks to the CVA for its support of the conference.