Organisation of veterinary public health in the Western Mediterranean region.

This paper describes the administrative organisation of veterinary public health (VPH) activities in seven countries of the Western Mediterranean region. These structures vary greatly, as a function of the national administrations overall and, in particular, as a result of assigning VPH to either the Ministry of Agriculture or Public Health. Whereas the VPH unit is generally involved in specific veterinary food hygiene activities, the control of zoonotic diseases is most often assigned to the Veterinary Services. In most countries of the region, VPH is still approached as too narrow a discipline, and the importance of VPH activities is often not recognised by decision-makers at the highest governmental levels.