Organisational Structure
The Swedish veterinarians are organised in two unions according to if they are employed (AVF) or private practitioners (FVF). The Swedish Veterinary Association (SVF) is made up of these two unions.
The main objectives of the two unions, as well as of SVF, are to improve the working conditions of its members by, for example, negotiating improved terms of employment or dealing with common work problems.
Within SVF the Swedish Society of Veterinary Medicine (SVS) was created in 1982. Each member of the Association is automatically a member of the Society. SVS is divided into sections representing different fields of veterinary medicine. There are at present five sections: Equine, Small Animal, Farm Animal, Food Hygiene and Laboratory Animal.
The procedure of decision making within SVF is as follows. Major policy decisions are taken by the General Assembly (GA), which meets every year. The GA consists of approximately 45 representatives from the unions and sections.
The Executive Board, which consists of a president, a vice president and seven members is elected by all members of the SVF through general elections. The members also elect the president and vice president of SVS. The president of SVS is also a member of the SVF Executive Board. The Executive Board is responsible for decision making and management of SVF between GA meetings. SVS has its own Executive Board consisting of the president and vice president elected by the GA and the presidents of the five sections.
The Association has a permanent *office in Stockholm. Presently this office has twelve employees: the President, who is a veterinarian, an office director, two lawyers acting as ombudsmen, the Secretary General of SVS, also a veterinarian, another veterinarian who is Chief Information Officer and the editor of the Swedish Veterinary Journal (Svensk Veterinärtidning), one part-time reporter, one accountant and four secretaries. The President is responsible for implementing the decisions of the Executive Board in the day to day activities of the association. The Secretary General is responsible for carrying out decisions made by the Executive Board of the SVS.
*The office of Sveriges Veterinärförbund is situated at Kungsholms Hamnplan 7 in Stockholm. Mailing address:
Box 12709, S-112 94 STOCKHOLM, Sweden.
Telephone: +46-8-545 558 20 and telefax: +46-8-545 558 39
E-mail: office@svf.se or to reach a particular staff member use: firstname.lastname@svf.se