Vets required in northern Italy for swine fever

Speaking at a hearing of the Joint Budget Committees of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, Pierluigi Ugolini, deputy national secretary of the Italian Union of Veterinarians of Public Health (SIVEMP), stressed the need for veterinarians in Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy, the regions most at risk from African swine fever. However, Ugolini argues that current legislation presents an impediment to workforce expansion. This is due to the absence of competitive processes, which precludes the recruitment of personnel coordinated by the Ministry of Health and the Regions to address the ongoing veterinary emergency. For Ugolini, the potential for intervention in the context of this disease, which can cause significant economic damage to Italy, hinges on the ability to deploy a sufficiently qualified workforce to tackle the inherent complexity of the situation.