The world needs to step up action against rabies, learning lessons from the COVID pandemic, senior doctors have said.
Yesterday was World Rabies Day, marking a disease that kills 59,000 people a year – 40% of them children.
The World Medical Association said the disease remains a serious public health problem in more than 150 countries, mostly in African and Asia.
Experts believe the threat of the disease can be reduced by vaccinating dogs in high risk areas.
A statement, issued jointly with the World Veterinary Association, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic shows us once again the importance of a One Health-based approach in setting up a successful strategy to protect human, animal and environmental health. The real challenge, however, is putting this concept into practice, especially in rural and low-income areas. The same is true for rabies. Effective vaccines and proven control strategies are available but are hard to deliver or implement where they are most needed.”
WMA president Dr David Barbe added: “To prevent human rabies deaths by 2030, a variety of strategies are being combined: through pre-and post-exposure prophylaxis, mass community dog vaccination, surveillance and epidemiology, enhancing laboratory diagnostic capability, increasing public awareness and risk communication, educating communities and professionals, enacting supportive legislation, improving dog population management, and establishing as well as protecting rabies-free zones.”
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