Initiatives

• The Veterinary Pharmacovigilance Centre (VPC) of the Department of Paraclinical Sciences provides a national service to veterinarians, the general public and regulatory authorities.  The service includes receiving, analysing and archiving reports of suspected adverse drug reactions.  The VPC links closely with the human National Adverse Event Monitoring Centre in Cape Town.
• The Programme for Phytomedicine housed in the Department of Paraclinical Sciences provides a service to determine the identity of plants used in herbal extracts and to determine antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic and anti-oxidant activities of plants and plant extracts or preparations.  The group also specialises in the preparation of plant extracts with high activity and resolving problems encountered in the herbal medicine industry.
• Investigation into the feasibility of replacing the University Diploma Programme in Veterinary Nursing with a 3-year vocational degree programme.
• Investigation into the feasibility of introducing a core-elective (tracking) approach in the BVSc degree programme