Mexico achieves membership to the OIE Council for the first time

According to a press release from SAGARPA, the World Assembly of Delegates of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), representing 180 countries, has elected Mexico for a three-year term as a board member of this international body for the very first time.
During its 83rd General Session, the highest governing body of the OIE, the Assembly of Delegates, voted director general of animal health of Mexico's agricultural ministry, SAGARPA, Joaquín Braulio Delgadillo, to serve on the board as delegate of Mexico to the OIE.
Similarly, the 180 delegates of the member countries of the OIE elected the director of the National Center of Diagnostic Services in Animal Health (CENASA) of SENASICA, Juan Antonio Montaño, as a member of the Scientific Commission, which also includes delegates from Italy, Sylvia Bellini and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Baptiste Dungu.
The OIE Council is comprised of the President of the Assembly of Delegates, the Vice President, the outgoing President and six Delegates representing all regions (two for the Americas), elected for a term of three years.
The Assembly of Delegates resolved to grant the presidency of the Council for 2015 to the delegate of South Africa, Botlhe Michael Modisane and vice presidency to the delegate of Australia, Mark Chipp and the outgoing president, Karin Schwabenbauer, delegate of Germany, who remains part the Council for next three years.
The Council also includes the delegate of Mexico, Joaquín Braulio Delgadillo, representing North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and for South America, the delegate of Paraguay, Hugo Benitez Idoyaga.
Council members help ensure the transparency of the world animal health situation, collect, analyze and disseminate relevant scientific information, particularly on methods of disease control and animal welfare, facilitate trade and avoid creating unnecessary trade barriers.
Being part of the OIE Council implies that Mexican health authorities will be involved in the development of standards and policies, as well as the decision-making processes on animal health worldwide. For Mexico, membership to the OIE Board means having the opportunity to support and promote the "One Health" vision that allows to comprehensively address animal health and public health worldwide.
Mexico’s collaboration in the Council will positively affect the international arena and will lead to a new national vision to address health issues from an inclusive perspective and integrate all aspects and players.
Promoting the collaborative approach of "One Health" at national level means providing sustainable and solid support to a coordinated prevention of diseases that impact animal and public health and the human-animal interface.