FAO in Ghana

Overcoming constraints to rabies elimination: Africa strides towards Zero by 30

©FAO
16/03/2023

FAO, World Health Organization, and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control identify common shortcomings to fight rabies.

Rabies is endemic in most African countries and it has been ranked as one of the top priority zoonotic diseases in the continent. During recent decades, many African countries have enforced legislation to eliminate dog-mediated rabies in the region and have undertaken the Stepwise Approach towards Rabies Elimination (SARE) assessments to objectively assess the present-day rabies situation across a country. 

To culminate the collaborative efforts to control and eliminate rabies in the continent,  international partners, including the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Emergency Centre for Transboundary Diseases (FAO ECTAD), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) and the Pan-African Rabies Control Network (PARACON) have joined efforts in a workshop held from 8 to 10 March 2023 in Accra, Ghana. The main objective of this meeting was to identify common shortcomings in the fight against rabies across the region and provide additional support by introducing the nominated country representatives to tools and resources that are readily available (but under-utilized) to control and eliminate this animal disease.

Shortcomings have been identified through an analysis of the participating Member States Stepwise Approach towards Rabies Elimination (SARE) -derived work plans. In so doing, national governments can be supported in their efforts to control and eliminate rabies, while partners, donors and stakeholders are given the opportunity to engage and support countries in meaningful ways by contributing directly to the governmental priorities outlined in the work plans. African countries that participated in the workshop included Burkina Faso, Cote DÍvoire, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Zambia

Africa shares common constraints to rabies control and elimination

Since 2010, FAO ECTAD has provided support to several governments across Africa and to their veterinary and health services to sensitize about rabies control and prevention, by raising awareness during annual World Rabies Day celebrations in September, undertaking mass dog vaccination campaigns and bringing all sides to the table to elaborate an effective control and prevention plan against rabies. In addition, FAO joins forces with the Quadripartite partners to continue building awareness, advocacy and provision of tools, policy and capacity support.   

During the closing ceremony of this three-day workshop, Quadripartite partners, represented by Mohammed Shamsuddin, Senior Animal Production and Health Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Africa, stated that “The tools and capacities delivered and resources made available to countries have come to an opportune time, which now demands us to change the gear and scale up dog vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis to eliminate this mortal disease by 2030”. 

Prof. Louis Nel, the representative from GARC, further stated that “to achieve rabies control and elimination, we need a strategy that is locally driven, long term and embedded in the regional or national development plan, and reduce the over-reliance on external aid”.

This workshop serves as an illustration of how working together and learning from each other can accelerate progress.

Global Framework against rabies

In response to the detection of rabies which is one of the priority zoonotic diseases in the country and recognizing its high burden, FAO and other partners have supported the development and implementation of the world’s biggest anti-rabies initiative the “Zero by 30: The Global Strategic Plan to Prevent Human Deaths from Dog-Transmitted Rabies by 2030” to achieve a world completely free of human dog-mediated rabies. This initiative marked the first time that the human and animal health sectors came together to adopt a common strategy, undeR a One Health approach, against this devastating and neglected disease. 

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