Features Schipp at the helm of the OIE AHA Communications team We caught up with Dr Mark Schipp, following his appointment as President to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and found out his thoughts on the international animal health system and some of his career highlights so far. What does the appointment to OIE president mean to you? Taking up the role of OIE President is an enormous privilege and opportunity. The OIE is the international standards setting body for animal health and welfare. It was established in 1924 in response to ongoing outbreaks of rinderpest; Australia joined in 1925. The OIE aspires to bring to the global community animal health, animal welfare, veterinary public health, food safety, food security and the economic benefits which flow from these. These are lofty goals but with the global challenges that we face today, which threaten our continued quality of life, we need to aim high. Becoming the OIE President is an opportunity to showcase Australia’s achievements and approach to animal health and welfare. It provides us with an opportunity to shape the global agenda on animal health and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). For me, it is also an opportunity to represent our region of the Asia Pacific in this international forum. Our region is the most populous “Becoming the OIE President is an opportunity to showcase Australia’s achievements and approach to animal health and welfare...” 6 THE LINK AUT/WIN 18 and also the most productive in animal agriculture but often lacks a voice in international forums. As a veterinarian from Australia I will be taking the opportunity to emphasise the important role we all can play in the global issues of animal health and welfare, food security and AMR. What are the highlights of your career so far? I have been very fortunate throughout my career. I have been a government veterinarian since I graduated from Murdoch University in 1989, initially with the Western Australian Department of Agriculture and then with the Commonwealth. Sir Walter Murdoch, the prominent Australian author and philosopher after which the university was named, once reflected on his inability to pursue studies in medicine: ‘There are probably people alive, who would not be alive if I had been their physician.’ I think the same can be said of me not entering clinical practice – there are probably animals alive today that would not be alive if I had been their veterinarian! In WA I had the opportunity to work over most of the state as a District Veterinary Officer. I then
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