What World Veterinary Association does

The World Veterinary Association (WVA) is a private non-profit federation founded in 1953 and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium (Etterbeek). It serves as an umbrella organization for national, regional, and specialty veterinary associations worldwide, with the explicit purpose of coordinating international alignment in veterinary medicine across disease control, food safety, animal welfare, medicines availability, and the ecological impact of health systems. WVA operates with a lean staff of 1-10 employees and is governed by a Council that selects annual themes and oversees activities.

WVA's core offerings are programmatic rather than commercial: the Essential Veterinary Medicines List (EVML) co-created with Brooke to expand access to veterinary medicines for food-producing animals; the WVA Global Veterinary Awards recognizing excellence across animal welfare, education, medicines stewardship, and One Health; the WVA/MSD Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarship Program (40 scholarships at USD 5,000 each in the 2025 cohort); the WVA/AMU Guidelines on antimicrobial use; the biennial WVA Congress; and a library of position statements covering animal welfare, medicines stewardship, One Health, and veterinary education. The 2025-2030 Strategic Plan reaffirms the federation's focus on strengthening the global veterinary profession.

WVA does not sell commercial products. Its funding flows from member association dues, grants, and corporate partnerships (notably MSD Animal Health). The federation distributes its outputs through its global member association network and its website (worldvet.org), with no traditional sales motion or pricing structure. Member organizations, the broader veterinary community, and veterinary students constitute the served audience, with leadership represented by Dr. John de Jong as Immediate Past President.

Name

World Veterinary Association

Legal name

World Veterinary Association

Website

https://worldvet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The World Veterinary Association (WVA) is a global non-profit federation of veterinary associations, founded in 1953 and headquartered in Brussels. It coordinates international alignment in animal health, welfare, food safety, and One Health through position statements, awards, scholarships, and guidelines.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Veterinary Professional Association Services

NAICS

Veterinary Services (54194)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory, Certification & Compliance Veterinary Services (Health Papers, QA Programs) (AFACADAJ)

Keywords

• Veterinary association federation
• Animal health advocacy
• One health initiative
• Veterinary medicine guidelines
• Veterinary profession development

Headquarters

HQ city

Etterbeek

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The World Veterinary Association (WVA) is a global federation of national, regional, and specialty veterinary associations that coordinates the veterinary profession across borders. It delivers authoritative programs and resources including the Essential Veterinary Medicines List (EVML) for food-producing animals, antimicrobial use (AMU) clinical guidelines, and official position statements on animal welfare, medicines stewardship, One Health, and veterinary education. The WVA also runs global recognition and professional development initiatives such as the WVA Global Veterinary Awards, the WVA/MSD Veterinary Student Scholarship Program, and the WVA Congress.

Product overview

The World Veterinary Association (WVA) operates as a global federation of national, regional, and specialty veterinary associations rather than a commercial product company. The organization's offerings consist of programs, position statements, awards, and professional development initiatives focused on advancing veterinary medicine, animal welfare, and One Health globally. The WVA does not offer commercial software products but rather provides professional services including the Essential Veterinary Medicines List (EVML), Global Veterinary Awards, veterinary student scholarships, congress events, and policy/position statements on animal welfare, medicines stewardship, and One Health.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Essential Veterinary Medicines List (EVML) A list of essential veterinary medicines for food-producing animals, co-created by the WVA and Brooke, designed to improve access to essential veterinary medicines worldwide for veterinarians and animal health systems.
• WVA/AMU Guidelines

Quantifiable outcome

• 40 veterinary students supported annually through scholarship program valued at USD 5,000 each

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BrookecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Co-created the Essential Veterinary Medicines List (EVML) for Food-Producing Animals to improve access to essential veterinary medicines worldwide. This partnership received the inaugural RCVS Collaboration Award in 2026.
• American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026AVMA awarded WVA Immediate Past President Dr. John de Jong with the 2026 AVMA Award, one of AVMA's highest honors for distinguished service in the veterinary profession.
• MSD Animal HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Joint program offering WVA/MSD Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarships. The 2025 program selected 40 students from Africa, Asia and Oceania, Latin America, and the Middle East to receive scholarships valued at USD 5,000 each.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• British Veterinary Association: The BVA is the UK national veterinary association representing vets across practice, industry, government, and academia. It is comparable as a national member of the WVA federation with overlapping policy, animal welfare, and medicines stewardship work, but is geographically focused on the UK.

Broad incumbents

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: FAO is a UN specialized agency with a global mandate on food security, agriculture, and animal health. It is comparable to WVA in addressing veterinary and One Health issues at a global policy scale, but operates with vastly larger resources and an intergovernmental remit.
• World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH): WOAH (formerly OIE) is the intergovernmental standard-setting body for animal health with 183 member countries. It is comparable to WVA as a global convener on animal health, disease control, and One Health, but operates with a much larger intergovernmental mandate and resources.

Others

• Brooke: Brooke is an international animal welfare charity that co-created the Essential Veterinary Medicines List (EVML) with WVA and shares WVA's focus on working animals and food-producing animals in LMICs. It is a strategic partner and adjacent peer in the animal health policy space.
• MSD Animal Health: MSD Animal Health is a global animal health pharmaceutical company and the corporate partner behind the WVA/MSD Veterinary Student Scholarship Program. It is comparable as an ecosystem participant invested in global veterinary capacity building, though not a federation peer.

Direct peers

• Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons: The RCVS is the UK veterinary regulatory body and membership organization. It is directly comparable to WVA as a veterinary professional body that grants recognition and awards; RCVS awarded WVA the inaugural RCVS Collaboration Award in 2026 for the EVML.
• American Veterinary Medical Association: The AVMA is the largest national veterinary medical association in the United States, representing veterinarians and producing policy positions, guidelines, and advocacy. It is directly comparable to WVA as a veterinary professional federation with overlapping mandate on animal welfare, medicines stewardship, and One Health, and recently granted WVA's president its 2026 AVMA Award.
• Commonwealth Veterinary Association: The CVA is a regional federation of veterinary associations across Commonwealth countries, with a parallel mandate to WVA on veterinary education, animal welfare, and One Health in developing-country contexts. It functions as a comparable regional federation peer.
• Federation of Veterinarians of Europe: The FVE is the umbrella federation of European veterinary associations, operating in the same membership-federation model as WVA. It represents national veterinary bodies across Europe and advocates on animal health, welfare, and One Health at the EU level.

Emerging players

• International Veterinary Students' Association: The IVSA is a global student-run organization for veterinary students. It is comparable to WVA as a global veterinary constituency organization with overlapping student scholarship and development programs (notably overlapping with the WVA/MSD scholarship).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about World Veterinary Association