Beyond World Rabies Day: Ensuring A Rabies-Free World By 2030

 

Annually, the world celebrates World's Rabies Day on September 28, recalling the great havoc and menace this endemic disease has caused, and creating public awareness about rabies. 

Rabies is one of the most dangerous zoonotic diseases in the world. It is a vaccine-preventable, viral, neuroinvasive disease that causes inflammation in the brain tissue and muscle paralysis. It is caused by the rabies virus (genus Lyssa) and primarily infects mammals. 

Rabies has existed for many years, but the first written record of rabies causing death in dogs and humans is found in the Mosaic Esmuna Code of Babylon in 2300 C. Transmission of this deadly disease occurs if the saliva of infected animals comes into direct contact with mucosal surfaces or fresh skin wounds.

“Zero by 30” Global Strategic Plan

Due to the devastating impact that rabies has imposed on the world, causing the death of about 59,000 people in Asia and Africa every year, of whom 40% are children, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GAFC) have for the first time united and set the goal of eradicating human cases of dog-mediated rabies infection by 2030. 

This led to the creation of the “Zero by 30” global strategic plan in 2015. This collaboration plans to leverage existing tools and expertise in a coordinated way to empower, engage, and enable countries to save human lives from this preventable disease. 

This collaboration came up with three main objectives for achieving the “Zero by 3”' plan, according to WHO, which are:

1) To efficiently prevent and respond through the effective use of vaccines, medicines, tools, and technologies available.

2) To generate, innovate, and measure impact through policies, guidance, and reliable data to enable effective decision-making.

3) To sustain commitment and resources to drive progress.

For the first time in history, every health sector is united to leverage knowledge, tools, and technology in a new way. This will help strengthen the health system, improve access to care, and contribute to sustainable development. In addition, these combined efforts will only serve to promote human and animal health and welfare.

CHALLENGES

Even though these organizations have come together to achieve the sole goal of eradicating human deaths due to dog-mediated rabies, there are still some challenges that could create loopholes in this feasible plan, especially in developing countries like Nigeria.

First and foremost, the lack of appropriate facilities, such as electricity, medical equipment, etc., in developing countries for the storage of vaccines is a major problem.

 The lack of electricity can cause the failure of rabies vaccines in animals and humans, leading to a prolonged delay in this sole focus of the world. Although cases of failure of rabies vaccines in humans—the post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)—have not been reported, cases of vaccine failure in the main carriers—dogs—have been recorded.

Also, the lack of a good road network to access communities located in rural areas is another challenge that many developing countries face. This has triggered a breach in disseminating awareness in those areas, leading to a lack of knowledge and understanding of what rabies is. Due to this issue, it is a challenge to supply human and animal vaccines in those areas.

In addition, laxity about the urgency of rabies prevention among relevant stakeholders (including individuals and government) especially in developing countries, where allocation of resources to other needs or issues that are seemingly more pressing may be likely, may hinder the achievement of the "Zero by 30" goal in these areas.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The “Zero by 30” goal is a global one. Therefore, every effort should be made to ensure that all regions in the world are poised and positioned to accomplish it. Hence, it will be important to address the challenges previously discussed, especially in regions where they may be peculiar, to facilitate this global goal.

Firstly, there should be the creation of standard medical facilities in each local government area, which will serve as a depot for the supply of vaccines to different regional clinics, especially where the disease is still endemic.

In addition, the construction of good road networks for easy access to rural areas may facilitate rabies awareness outreach and vaccine transport to these areas. This can stimulate action by relevant stakeholders, including NGOs and inhabitants of rural communities.

Finally, apart from free vaccine administration, vaccination of dogs against rabies may be incentivized through innovative means to encourage the participation of dog owners, especially those in rural communities, where they may be used as pets or for hunting et cetera.

CONCLUSION

The world recognizes World Rabies Day every year on September 28. Beyond celebrating it, it is mandatory that everyone in each sector, be it health, education, government, or environment, put their hands on deck to fight this endemic disease and ensure that the “Zero by 30” goal is accomplished. Particularly, efforts should be made to proffer solutions to the challenges limiting progress in the battle against dog-mediated human rabies infection, especially in developing countries, so that the goal may be more likely to be achieved.

Written by Esters.