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Republic of Botswana

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Official wins award

06/06/13

First Motswana Awarded OIE Meritorious Award Dr Moetapele Letshwenyo, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture has been awarded World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Meritorious Award at the 81st general session of the OIE World Assembly of Delegates.

First Motswana Awarded OIE Meritorious Award

Dr Moetapele Letshwenyo, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture has been awarded World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Meritorious Award at the 81st general session of the OIE World Assembly of Delegates. He received the award recently during the opening ceremony of the OIE general session in Paris, France. This is an annual award by the OIE to personalities as a way to recognize, internationally, their outstanding technical, scientific and administrative contributions to the field of veterinary science and animal disease control. He has contributed significantly to disease control, especially in the SADC area and has an unwavering commitment to the OIE ideals. Dr Letshwenyo’s recognition by OIE started in 1998 after the eradication of CBPP (cattle lung disease) in Ngamiland and the eradication of FMD in Zone 6 in 2003 where he acted as a Disease Control Coordinator. For the OIE, Dr Letshwenyo was instrumental in the establishment of the OIE Sub-regional office in the SADC region. The award is given to three people annually and Dr Letshwenyo is the only one in Africa who was awarded OIE Meritorious Award this year. “The way we handle animal diseases in Botswana can market our beef anywhere in the world, and it is not by surprise that the nominee come from Botswana, because of her well known management on animal disease control,” said Letshwenyo.