FAO in Bangladesh

World Rabies Day. End Rabies: Collaborate, Vaccinate

28/09/2020

Scientist Louis Pasteur discovered the vaccine to prevent rabies. It is in his honour that every year on 28 September the world celebrates World Rabies Day to mark rabies prevention efforts and unite against rabies. The theme for this year’s World Rabies Day is, End Rabies: Collaborate, Vaccinate. In accordance with Sustainable Development Goals Target 3.3 and the tripartite Global Strategy agreed by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO), countries are working to eliminate rabies to reach zero human dog-mediated rabies deaths by 2030 (Zero by 2030), worldwide.
Rabies is endemic in Bangladesh with high public health significance. Bangladesh is ranked third highest among rabies‐endemic countries for human rabies deaths. Vaccinating all dogs in any given area, especially free-roaming dogs, helps to develop herd immunity against the rabies virus and is the scientifically proven method towards eliminating rabies.
With this in mind, the Disease Control Programme of the Communicable Disease Control Unit of the Directorate General of Health Services (CDC-DGHS) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh, undertook a national elimination programme based on mass vaccination of dogs, management of dog bites, application of post-exposure prophylaxis, and communication and social mobilization.
The Bangladesh Government is leading a national multi-pronged rabies elimination programme towards its goal of eliminating rabies and serving as a role model for others in the region with similar economic and socio-cultural characteristics. As a result of the efforts taken up by the Government of Bangladesh, human death from rabies has decreased from an estimated 2000 in 2009 to 200 in 2019.
On July 26, 2020, FAO signed an agreement with the Government of Bangladesh to strengthen capacity towards rabies elimination. Under this project, FAO in collaboration with government counterparts, will establish a Rabies Action Centre for Excellence (RACE) to serve as a repository of knowledge and a policy and training centre to accelerate the sustainable elimination of dog-mediated rabies in Asia. The beneficiaries of RACE will be Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Rabies is a deadly but preventable disease. The tools and science to stop the extensive suffering, loss of life, and financial burden of rabies already exist. The most cost-effective and feasible means to prevent rabies is to vaccinate dogs. By vaccinating enough dogs, the rabies disease can be controlled, saving both human and animal lives. By working together, we can all play a role in keeping people and animals safe from rabies.