One step closer to ending rabies in Viet Nam

At an event in Quang Nam province, Viet Nam marked World Rabies Day with a large scale dog vaccination campaign, in order to highlight that the single best evidence-based strategy to eliminate rabies is vaccination of dogs. Eliminating the disease by vaccination protects dogs and stops transmission to people.

It is estimated that Viet Nam has approximately 10 million dogs, and further efforts are needed to reach a vaccination coverage that is sufficient to eliminate rabies. Effective rabies vaccination campaigns for dogs require not only a strong veterinary network but also sustained political support from local authorities and dog owners as well as assistance from technical agencies and mass organizations.

Viet Nam is one step closer to eliminating rabies by 2020 as a result of ever increasing and combined efforts from the animal and human health sectors as well as the local authorities. Although the country has documented a decrease to 46 human death cases due to Rabies in 2015, compared to 53 at this point one year ago, it still has to deal with many challenges to eradicate rabies nationwide.

Campaign in response to World Rabies Day in Hanoi on 28/9/2015 (Source: FAO)

The target for rabies elimination by 2020, set together with other ASEAN countries, strongly demands consistent and sustained political commitment, sufficient resource allocation as well as effective and focused health care and veterinary services at all levels. “Rabies elimination is within reach providing that at least 70% of the actual dog population is vaccinated. Detection and prevention can only be done by collaborating closely and by sharing intelligence and resources across sectors. World Rabies Day is an opportunity to establish or strengthen these links and reaffirm the stakeholders’ commitment” stated WHO Representative to Viet Nam, Dr Lokky Wai, and FAO Representative to Viet Nam, Mr Jong-Ha Bae, jointly.

The General Department of Preventive Medicine (GDPM) of MOH, and the Department of Animal Health (DAH) of MARD are working together with WHO and FAO to promote vaccination of local dog populations, to increase awareness of preventative actions, and to increase the availability of post-exposure prophylaxis treatment to bite victims. These agencies are also strengthening surveillance and reporting of animal and human rabies cases and facilitating greater collaborative efforts among the human and animal health sectors at all levels./.

FAO Viet Nam