Present veterinary medicine is the result of a global scientific effor
t. Unknown are ideological or national barriers. However, the conditio
ns for its realization vary from country to country with a changing cl
ientele as well. The number of farm animals is increasing, as well as
interest in the health of animals not in the care of man. There are ab
out 600 000 veterinarians in the world, globally unevenly distributed.
Relatively speaking, the least are in areas with greater agricultural
population, and the most, in societies of the postindustrial age. In
recent years many regions of the world have been going through an aval
anche of changes. Even though the concepts of these consequences to th
e health care of animals far from agree, the direction of veterinary r
esponsibility is shifting from public to private sector. In this regar
d the care of animal health on an international, national or regional
level has been repeatedly analyzed and intricately evaluated from the
early '80s. A generally accepted policy has been that in the care of a
nimal health both sectors, public and private, play a significant role
. However, under discussion are their relative proportions which diffe
r in various parts of the world. The market is increasingly permeating
into health care. In our country up to now the critical break in the
development of veterinary medicine has not been objectively evaluated.
We are still too concerned with the past, passing on disinformation,
persisting in old dogmas and moss-grown myths. The way into a world of
new priorities and the hierarchy of values in today's turbulent times
is uneasy, all the more to be tentaciously sought.