“VIII rural veterinary, global health”: the extension as a dialogical apparatus between community and university

Abstract

"Veterinary Rural, Global Health" is an extracurricular extension project that aims to provide health education through disease prevention and health promotion actions. It is a collective, transdisciplinary, and multiprofessional approach that involves professors, students, and veterinarians, among other professionals and members of the Tutorial Education Programs (PET) of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). Our goal is to disseminate scientific knowledge to the residents of Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In addition, the project aims to strengthen partnerships between the academic community and the Municipal Health Department to support rabies vaccination for dogs and cats in the municipality. For eight editions, the project seeks to address issues related to animal, human, and environmental health through extensionism to encourage the debate of ideas about One Health with the population. In 2022, two stages of activities were conducted. The first stage focused on supporting the vaccination of dogs and cats against rabies in various parts of the city. The second stage took place in the main square of the municipality, where health education activities were organized for children, adults, and seniors. These activities included lectures, playful interactions, drawing and painting workshops, distribution of gifts, and exhibition of anatomical and vertebrate pieces of importance in public health, among others. All practices addressed issues related to One Health and provided integration between the academic community and its surroundings, highlighting the importance of the inseparability of animal, human, and environmental health to reduce diseases with zoonotic potential.