Leaders of FAO, OIE and WHO Announce to End Human Deaths from Rabies by 2030

Leaders of FAO, OIE and WHO announce joint action to end human deaths from rabies by 2030

The newly established Joint Fight against Rabies Forum aims to accelerate progress and strive to eliminate human deaths from dog-borne rabies by 2030. Rabies still kills one person every nine minutes, almost half of whom are children.

 

The forum was initiated by the global institutions responsible for human health, animal health, and food and agriculture, namely the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Animal Health Organization (OIE).

 It will bring together governments Partners in institutions, human and animal and environmental health departments, the private sector, civil society, and research and academia, the purpose of which is to increase understanding of the policy and research that needs to be carried out, and to improve coordination among partners (including resource mobilization) And information sharing.

 

What did WHO Director-General Dr Tedros said on Rabies?

"If we can better control canine rabies and fundamentally improve people’s access to treatment and care, especially those poor and marginalized groups most affected by this terrible disease, we can eliminate rabies in humans. ."

 

What Dr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General of FAO, said on Rabies?

"Although the new coronavirus pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to all of us, we can and must turn disadvantages into advantages. 

Now we have the opportunity to strengthen "One Health" cooperation and regional cooperation, especially to improve the animal health system and surveillance. Collaborating on rabies is the best way to put these ideas into practice."

 

Dr. Monique Elliott, Director General of the OIE, emphasized the need for joint efforts to prevent rabies: 

"This is a disease that we know how to overcome, but there is no single solution. We must work together to cross the fields of human and animal health and work with the affected communities. 

This way the disease may be eliminated and In this process, we will also establish a more powerful system to detect and control other diseases."

 

Infographics on How Rabies Spreads

"One Health" promotes a policy approach that links human, animal, and environmental health interventions. FAO, OIE and WHO are working hard to turn this into action. 

In the case of rabies, this means coordinating investment in the public health initiative of large-scale canine vaccination, while improving surveillance and data collection, raising community awareness, and ensuring that people have access to affordable rabies treatment ( Prevention after exposure).

Is Vaccination Necessary for Rabies? 

Up to 99% of human rabies cases are caused by dog ​​bites, and rabies control is regarded as a "demonstration" disease to improve the control of zoonotic diseases in a broader sense.

 However, in most countries with rabies, investment in canine vaccination, rabies surveillance and surveillance systems is still low.

 

Scientific research and field evidence show that a mass vaccination campaign covering 70% of high-risk dogs can form herd immunity to rabies and is the only real way to block the spread of this disease between animals and humans. This can significantly reduce human rabies deaths.

 

Which film was launched on World Rabies Day?

To commemorate World Rabies Day, the Joint Fight against Rabies Forum grandly launched "The Dog's Perspective". A short film about Jackson and his search for love.

 

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