31 October 2023
Recognising that the health of animals and people are closely linked, military veterinary specialists from Australia, the Philippines and the United States ran a series of pet health clinics for rural communities in the Philippines region of Luzon.
Captain Naia Knight, a reservist veterinarian officer from Army's 3 Health Battalion in Adelaide, was part of the multi-national effort that provided services such as consultations, de-worming, vaccinations and vitamin supplementation.
She said the role of vets in the military increasingly included community engagement.
“Everyone thinks it's all about military working dogs but it’s also about community outreach programs like this one, as well as taking part in humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations,” Captain Knight said.
The vet project was part of a wider multinational medical aid provision activity in the Philippines from October 14 to 27, which was initiated by a military medicine working group within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Australia is a co-chair, along with Brunei Darussalam, of the expert working group.
The vet teams provided the services in four Barangays (communities) in the Municipality of General Tinio, about 110km north of the capital Manila.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines chose these communities based on their limited health resources and unique health challenges.
Captain Knight said she learned a lot from working with the US and Philippines veterinarian teams.
“These countries have dedicated veterinarian corps and it's been really interesting to work with them,” she said.
“They are used to seeing more exotic diseases that we don't have in Australia so there is a lot we can learn.
“The two veterinarian corps are also more involved in public health work.”
Captain Knight graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in London and immigrated to Australia about 10 years ago.
She has worked as a veterinarian in civilian practices in Darwin and Adelaide and with 3 Health Battalion since the start of the year.
“This has been my first overseas deployment with Defence and I've loved it, so I'll be making myself available for more Reserve work in future,” Captain Knight said.
