06/09/2025
The month of September is here again, to garner efforts to eliminate one of the oldest, yet neglected disease- Rabies; a ZOONOTIC DISEASE (transmissible from animals to humans).
* Rabies, gotten through bites and scratches from dogs and cats (the most common animals), is 100% fatal (death is assured), once symptoms and signs appear.
* The Good news is that it also 100% preventable through vaccination and continuous annual re-vaccination.
* The Bad news is that 1 person dies every 9 minutes from rabies across the world, whilst there are vaccines available to prevent this deadly disease.
World Rabies Day is celebrated annually on September 28, to create and raise awareness of the disease and serve as a WAKE-UP CALL TO ACTION. The 2025 World Rabies Day celebration centers on the theme "Act Now: You, Me, Community," emphasizing the collective responsibility required to eliminate rabies-related deaths.
You (Individual Action): Personal responsibility of individuals to protect themselves and their families by understanding the risks of rabies, seeking immediate medical attention if bitten or scratched by an animal (especially dogs and cats), and ensuring their pets are vaccinated. Pet vaccination is a critical personal act that contributes directly to community-wide protection.
Me (Professional and Collaborative Action): The role of professionals, such as veterinarians, medical doctors, and public health officials underscores the importance of intersectoral collaboration, tackling and controlling the disease with the "One Health" approach, where human and animal health sectors work together to control the disease; where surveillance, rapid response, and public education are coordinated and executed jointly.
Community (Collective Impact): Effective rabies prevention is a community-level endeavor; promoting mass vaccination campaigns for dogs and cats, who are the primary transmitters of the virus to humans. Calls for widespread public awareness programs to educate people about rabies prevention, responsible pet ownership, and the importance of reporting suspected cases. By working together as a community, we can break the cycle of transmission and move closer to global rabies elimination.
Act Now – delaying these efforts costs lives. Let us all acknowledge that while the goal of zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies is ambitious, it is achievable when everyone plays their part timely.
