Celebrating World Rabies Day

Sep 28, 2017

Theme: Rabies: Zero by 2030.

 

World Rabies Day, September 28th, is celebrated annually to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight progress in defeating this horrifying disease.

Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease that is transmitted through the saliva and nervous tissue of an infected animal. It is listed as one of 18 Neglected Tropical Diseases by the World Health Organization. Rabies is almost always 99.9% fatal—it has one of the highest case fatality rates of any disease.

However, rabies is also 100 % preventable, through human post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), improved educational awareness to prevent exposure, and mass vaccination of dog populations.

Many people around the world observe World Rabies Day (WRD), which raises awareness about the impact of rabies and how the disease can be prevented. The day also marks the anniversary of Louis Pasteur's death, the French chemist and microbiologist, who developed the fi rst rabies vaccine.

Today, safe and effi cacious animal and human vaccines are among the important tools that exist to eliminate human deaths from rabies while awareness is the key driver for success of communities to engage in effective rabies prevention.

In Uganda, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) in partnership with Uganda Veterinary Association (UVA) and other stakeholders spearhead the World Rabies Day celebrations to raises the profile of national and local control programmes and this acts as a springboard for year-round capacity building and awareness.

Apart from dog vaccination and proper animal bite management, an integral part of a successful rabies control program is community education. The Uganda government conducts an extensive nationwide annual World Rabies Day (WRD) celebration as part of its community education. Mass media is also one of the main tools utilized to promote World Rabies Day.

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