Paravets and plants for animal healthcare
For many rural farmers, access to veterinary services and medicines may be difficult, but paravets, who are currently increasing in numbers, can provide an effective means to minister animal healthcare in rural areas. Like community health workers, they may not receive formal training but instead receive practical training within their communities. Once trained, they can help farmers in the villages where they live by providing advice on treatment and access to medicines to treat the animals.
Several successful paravet projects have been established including
one in the Terekeka District in southern Sudan set up by a local NGO,
ACCOMPLISH. The local people are pastoralists with large herds of
cattle, sheep and goats which, in the past, have suffered from
outbreaks of rinderpest, tick-borne diseases, and trypanosomiasis,
amongst other diseases, which have led to poor production or death.
The lack of previous veterinary services has now been replaced by
about thirty paravets (including three women). Paravets are chosen
from the community from those who are motivated, have a good knowledge
of livestock care, diseases and traditional cures, and who have skills
in numeracy if not literacy. 
A
sustainable fund for medicine supplies has been established and no
outbreak of rinderpest has been reported since the establishment of
the project.
VETAID is also supporting the training of farmers and paravets in Mozambique and Somaliland. In Mozambique the paravets are supplied with a veterinary kit containing some medicines. Enough money is made from the sale of these medicines to pay a small amount to the paravet and to cover transport costs, but the real motivation of the job has to come from a desire to help farmers in their own communities. In Somaliland, paravets receive 15 days initial training and teaching is based on recognition and treatment of the commonest diseases and problems in the area. Paravets also receive training in simple treatment of wounds and application of medicines (e.g. drenching and vaccination). Regular follow-up training takes place every three months. So far, 15 paravets from three districts have been trained and are working in the region.
Although the numbers of paravets in increasing, subsistence farmers in remote communities with little money or no access to veterinary services still rely on medicinal plants that, hand in hand with proper nutrition and disease prevention, can help provide inexpensive healthcare. Plants that can be used for animal healthcare include the fresh leaves of turmeric, guava and artemisia (mugwort) used as a poultice for wounds, a drench of fresh betel nuts to treat intestinal worms, and a drench of boiled camphor leaves to relieve coughs and fevers. Most medicinal plants are found naturally in the wild but farmers are advised to grow the plants they are most likely to need for treatment of their animals in their own backyards.
