Page 18 - Eclipse - Autumn/Winter 2022

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Page 18 - Eclipse - Autumn/Winter 2022
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15 years of VetCompass –


        enabled by the veterinary community




                etCompass (Veterinary       VetCompass is a widely collaborative   VetCompass rapidly expanded and now
                Companion Animal            project that works alongside other   covers more than 20 million animals
                Surveillance System) was    veterinary, welfare and policy      across all species from more than 1,800
        Vconceived at the ºÚÁÏÉç in 2007,      communities to provide a robust     UK practices – around a third of the total
        with an aspirational aim of harnessing   evidence base that collectively   practices within the UK. Epidemiological
        clinical data generated in first opinion   contributes to improved decision-  projects have spanned conditions as
        veterinary practices to generate robust   making on animal health issues at a   diverse as epilepsy, cancer, skin disease,
        clinical evidence that could be used to   population level. It contributes to the   endocrinopathies and heart disease,
        better inform us of what was happening   routine evidence base veterinarians use   as well as describing overall disorder
        in the vast majority of veterinary   in practice every day to support and   prevalence and longevity in different
        activities in the real world.       improve the health and welfare of their   breeds and species.
                                            patients. VetCompass has published
        With the critical collaboration of                                      In addition to sharing results with
        veterinary practices across the UK, as   over 100 peer-reviewed papers covering   veterinary colleagues via peer reviewed
        well as internationally, VetCompass has   diverse companion animal species and   journals and at conferences, the
        expanded in scope and achievement   topics, with many more in progress.  VetCompass team works hard to share
        to shed light on an increasingly wide   ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION           insights with the wider public to inform
        range of research and welfare questions.   The VetCompass concept was born as a   decision-making when choosing and
        This evidence has contributed to our   pilot project running from 2007 to 2010   caring for pets – and to promote wider
        shared understanding of the causes and   that included data on dogs from seven   understanding of disease risks. This
        solutions to health problems and risks   UK veterinary practices. Information   sharing includes infographics that
        affecting millions of animals.                                          summarise the core messages from
                                            gathered at that point was used to
        VetCompass is a not-for-profit research   report on antibiotic and glucocorticoid   studies, as well as press messaging that
                                                                                routinely includes TV and newspapers.
        programme, owned and coordinated by   use in small animal practice. Building on
        the ºÚÁÏÉç, and drawing on anonymised   this early learning, the full VetCompass   Although veterinary knowledge,
        data shared by the wider veterinary   project commenced in October 2010   techniques and technologies are
        community. VetCompass research      with an invitation for any UK practice to   rapidly evolving to improve the care
        contributes to a diverse range of   join. Practices responded in their droves,   offered, many animals continue to
        undergraduate, MSc, PhD and other   sharing hard-earned veterinary insights   suffer from disorders that could be
        research projects both at the ºÚÁÏÉç and at   to help revolutionise our understanding   reduced or avoided if breed-related
        many other institutions that aim to reveal   of companion animal health at   or environmental risks were better
        novel insights into the health of animals.   population level.          understood and shared. VetCompass
                                                                                evidence is now a major contributor to
































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