KERSOS KESWAN XXXVII FACULTY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE UDAYANA UNIVERSITY: "REALIZING ‘RABIES-FREE BALI’ THROUGH HARMONY OF VETERINARY YOUNG PEOPLE WITH THE COMMUNITY"

Klungkung, LPM SS – Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University, Prof. Dr. drh. I Nyoman Suartha, M.Si officially opened the Kersos Keswan XXXVII FKH Udayana organized by the Student Executive Board (BEM) of FKH Unud at Pau Field, Tihingan Village, Banjarangkan District, Klungkung Regency, Bali, Wednesday (06/29/2022). The opening of the Kersos Keswan was followed by the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) by the Dean of FKH Unud, the Chair of PDHI, and the Banjarangkan District Head.

 


Animal health-social work (Kersos Keswan) is one of the BEM FKH Unud programs that must be followed by final semester FKH Unud students which aims to provide animal health services to the community and train students to be more skilled in the field of veterinary medicine. Basically, the activity of Kersos Keswan XXXVII FKH Unud focuses on providing animal health services in the form of vaccination, education, and outreach activities to the public, especially regarding rabies. This is a reflection of the theme they adopted, namely "Creating a 'Rabies-Free Bali' through Harmonization of Veterinary Young People with the Community".

A series of Kersos Keswan were carried out for three days starting from June 29th –July 1st 2022, which were located in several banjars and villages in Banjarangkan District, Klungkung Regency, Bali. Villages that were targeted for Kersos Keswan at FKH Unud included Bakas Village, Tihingan Village, and Nyalian Village. This location was chosen because of the large number of rabies cases that occurred so that it was deemed necessary to provide health services to animals as well as an effort to increase local community awareness of the importance of animal health.

The first day of Kersos Keswan began with an opening containing remarks by the chairman of the committee, the head of the BEM, the Banjarangkan District Head, the Head of the Klungkung Regency Agriculture and Livestock Service, and the Dean of FKH Udayana. After the opening of Kersos Keswan, participants received guidance from their respective supervisors regarding this Kersos Keswan. On the first day, participants carried out vaccination, education and outreach activities to the community in Bakas Village which included Banjar Kangin, Banjar Kawan, Banjar Peken, Banjar Pering, and Banjar Kreteg.



The activity carried out door-to-door, each group will visit residents' homes to provide animal health services in the form of giving vaccinations to dogs, injecting vitamins and administering anti-ectoparasites to livestock. The participants also provided education to the public regarding the prevention and handling of rabies cases. The activities of the first day ended with a joint discussion by the supervisor.



Arriving on the second day, the activity began with joint exercises led by the committee. This was enough to fuel the enthusiasm of the participants to be able to carry out the next Kersos Keswan activities. This time, vaccination, education, and outreach activities were carried out in Tihingan Village which included Banjar Pau, Banjar Penasan, Banjar Mengune, and Banjar Tihingan also Nyalian Village which included Banjar Kelodan, Banjar Pemenang, Banjar Pekandelan, Banjar Kapit, Banjar Griya, Banjar Umanyar, Banjar Tegal Wangi, and Banjar Dukuh. The activity continued with a night of intimacy by the participants, committee, and invited guests.

Friday, 1st July 2022, the closing of the Kersos Keswan XXXVII Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University. This agenda was attended by the Head of the Klungkung Regency Agriculture and Livestock Service, the Banjarangkan District Head, the Animal Health Center Service Staff and a number of other invited guests. The closing of Kersos Keswan was carried out by the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University, represented by the Kersos Keswan supervisor, drh. I Wayan Sukernayasa, M.Si, which was symbolically carried out by releasing name tags by all participants.

 


From a series of Kersos Keswan that have been carried out, several obstacles occurred, one of which was miscommunication related to the implementation of vaccination. Vaccination target areas have received the vaccine last April. Then there are a number of vaccination needs that are not available, one of which is alcohol swab. In addition, several planned activities were cancelled due to rain at the time the event was taking place. The existence of these obstacles is expected to be a lesson for future activities so that later it can be carried out properly.

Apart from this, the enthusiasm from the people of Banjarangkan District regarding the implementation of vaccination, education, and socialization activities deserves a thumbs up. The public's openness to this activity means that most Balinese people have been well educated and socialized about rabies and vaccination.

"Hopefully with the presence of the 37th Kersos Keswan, we will be able to eradicate rabies in this village and be able to provide the implementation of veterinary sciences to the community." said the Chairperson of the Kersos Keswan XXXVII Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University as a hope for the implementation of this activity.

Author: Wanda- LPM SS