The Veterinary Sector Calls for a Strike at 330 Clinics in Alicante Province

While doctors took to the streets to protest on Monday, the veterinarians will follow suit a day later. The 331 veterinary clinics in Alicante province are called to join a strike taking place this Tuesday nationwide, which will see the closure of consultancies, clinics, and hospitals as a form of protest.

The Valencian Council of Veterinary Colleges (CVCV) has publicly supported this protest, which arises in opposition to the effects of a new European regulation. This regulatory framework will mandate the electronic communication of antibiotic prescriptions and introduce a new regulation of veterinary medicines, which the CVCV describes as "restrictive."

Specifically, the enactment of RD 666/2023 on January 2nd regulates the obligation to report antibiotic prescriptions through the digital platform PRESVET, in response to the European policy against antimicrobial resistance.

The president of the CVCV, Inmaculada Ibor, highlights the "commitment of all veterinarians against resistance, which is a major public health issue," but warns that "the implementation of this RD and the launch of PRESVET for companion animals imposes an excessive bureaucratic burden that could increase service costs, already burdened since 2012 with a maximum VAT rate of 21%."

Despite supporting the fight against antimicrobial resistance, professionals are asking the government for a moratorium on the measure's implementation, noting that the European Union only requires it from 2029.

They complain that this tool, which should record antibiotic prescriptions, "frequently suffers from errors, does not allow agile use, as it requests data that the veterinarian must search for in other applications, and even requires declaring the use made by the animal's guardian, a fact unknown to the veterinarian, and for all these reasons, it represents an unmanageable bureaucratic burden."

Additionally, they add that this regulation "forces the clinician to prescribe according to the technical data sheets of veterinary medicines, which are mostly outdated."

They argue that to comply with the regulation, veterinarians would often be forced to prescribe a medication that would not be the first choice or a commercial presentation of it whose format would not suit the needs to treat the patient. In practice, this could mean that the animal's owner would have to purchase a box of 100 pills when only 3 or 4 are needed for treatment.