Safe Medicines for Animals-regulatory training (SMArt): Annual Report and Accounts 2/5/20-1/5/21.
A. Charity details.
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1.Registered as a CIO-Foundation November 1[st] 2019.
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2.Charity number- 1186100.
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3.Trustees and secretary:
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a. Lord A. J. Trees (Chair).
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b. Professor S.P. Borriello.
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c. Professor A. R. Peters.
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d. Dr. L.W. Muraguri.
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e. Mr. D. Corner.
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f. Ms. A. Seager (secretary).
4.Bank:
Bank account not yet established.
- 5.Structure, Governance and Management.
The charity is established as a Foundation model Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), whose only voting members are the charity trustees (see A3 a-e above). In its review of risks the Trustees identified absence of funds and the associated lack of administrative support, and the continued impact of covid on initiatives and functioning.
B. Charitable Purpose.
The preservation and protection of public health and the prevention of suffering of animals by the provision of education and training in the safe and effective use of veterinary medicines for the agricultural community in developing nations, so that dangerous substances do not enter the food chain and in the process endanger the health of both humans and animals.
C. Charitable Objectives.
To be a global partner for low- and middle-income countries in the provision of education, development and training for the safe, responsible and effective use of veterinary medicines and its subsequent benefit to environmental, animal and human welfare, and economic development.
D. Lay Description.
Just like people, animals can become ill and require treatment with medicines. These animals include working and companion animals, and animals raised as livestock (including bees and farmed fish), zoo/safari animals, and on occasion, wild animals. Also, as in people, medicines have to be specifically developed, doses recommended, and then be authorised by an independent Government body (a medicines regulator) to ensure they will work as expected, be safe to the animals, people who eat meat and dairy produce, and to the environment (as some will be excreted
by the animal). This regulatory process is very exacting. Once medicines are marketed there also has to be a process to monitor for adverse events (side-effects or failure to work properly), and processes to inspect the manufacturers, and the distribution chain, of the medicines. The charity is dedicated to ensuring the availability of support, training and improved processes to those countries where the regulatory processes are not yet fully mature.
E. Activities of the Charity.
It is unfortunate that covid emerged as a global pandemic soon after the establishment of the charity. This has continued to impacted negatively during the second year of operation of SMArt on the anticipated charitable activities and establishment of administrative functions. We continued to concentrate on raising awareness amongst other interested parties and stakeholders of the establishment of SMArt and its aims and objectives, and to identify ways we could be enabling to these parties. As part of this the web-site was modified in January 2021(see www.smart-org.uk), to enable hosting Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded outputs from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, which supported and furthered the aims and objectives of the charity. This, the first global directory of veterinary medicines regulators, was published on 10/3/21 and is enabling to all stakeholders and facilitates interaction and possible collaboration between regulators.
Discussions were held with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) about possible funding for SMArt. The advice was that administration costs would have to be built into a broader grant application from SMArt or jointly from SMArt with a partner organisation. Further, it was evident that the BMGF supported the aims and objectives of SMArt and that any grant bid that particularly furthered medicine regulation development work in sub-Sahara Africa would be favourably received. There was also support for the reach-out to stakeholders/co-ordinating and enabling strategy adopted by SMArt, and appreciation of hosting the world’s first directory of veterinary medicines regulators.
F. Statement of Financial Activities and Balance Sheet.
(i) The charity received no income for the reporting period.
(ii)The charity had no expenditure for the reporting period.
(iii)The value of the services provided by the volunteer secretary are not shown.
(iv)The improvement of the single page web-site was a donated service (value £1750) from the Veterinary Medicines directorate (VMD) from funding received to support international work, and particularly to host BMGF funded outputs from VMD.
(v)There is no entitled/certain to receive income for 2/5/20-1/5/21.
(vi)There were no trustee renumerations or related party transactions. Trustee meetings were either virtual or, when face –to-face, arranged for occasions when trustees were in the same locality for another primary purpose.
G. This report was prepared by Professor S. P. Borriello (trustee).