Rabies Project in the Philippines
The Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA), the Australian Government and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) launched on 1 September 2014 in Legazpi City a P40-million (US$ 932,721) rabies control project that aims to reduce and ultimately eliminate dog rabies cases in the Philippines.
Philippine Undersecretary for Agriculture Jose Reaño said a multi-sectoral effort is needed to combat rabies in the Philippines. Vaccination is just the start. To sustain the reduction in the number of cases, we need people’s involvement from the communities to the local, provincial and national levels of government. “For the national rabies strategy to work, it needs support from the communities in terms of monitoring and reporting of rabies cases. The provincial and local governments need to implement ways to combat rabies including creating ordinances that will compel people to have their dogs vaccinated,” he said.
Rabies, a highly fatal yet preventable disease is primarily transmitted via rabid dog bites. The Philippines reports around 1.2 million animal bites from 2009 to 2012 and more than 200 human cases annually. Considering that rabies is 100% preventable, these are unwarranted losses of human lives.
The Philippines recognized this and has developed the project “Accelerating the Achievement of Rabies-Free Philippines through Dog Vaccination (AcARP)” in support of its National Rabies Prevention and Control Program (NRPCP). The Program aims to fast-track rabies elimination in the whole country by 2016. This target requires enormous resources.
For its part, the Australian Government, through OIE, is committed to supporting the Philippines in this endeavor. Through its regional initiative called the Stop Transboundary Animal Diseases and Zoonoses (STANDZ) Initiative implemented by the OIE Sub-Regional Representation for South-East Asia, the Australian Government is providing around Php 40 million to the Department of Agriculture (DA) in support of the NRPCP.
Australian Embassy Philippines Chargé d’Affaires Dr David Dutton said, “Australia is supporting this project to assist the Philippines in eventually eliminating the public health threat of rabies in the country by 2016. More broadly, the Australian Government believes the Philippines will be able to contribute significantly to the ASEAN regional goal of eliminating rabies by 2020. The success and lessons learned from this important project will serve as a model of rabies control for other ASEAN countries still grappling with the disease.”
The support will allow the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry to implement a rabies control project for 2014-2016 that will vaccinate 300,000 dogs annually, raise public awareness on the importance of responsible pet ownership, and strengthen intersectoral collaboration among partner NGO and local government units (LGU) in the Bicol region.
Successful control of rabies in the pilot areas in Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Masbate Island is expected to contribute to the national eradication efforts of the Department of Agriculture and reinforce rabies elimination in the Bicol Region in partnership with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) which is supporting Sorsogon.
Bicol Governor Salceda said that he initiated the launch of the Zero-Rabies Albay Program in 2013 in response to the alarmingly high rabies cases in animals and humans during the last decade. The massive dog vaccination strategy launched in 2013 vaccinated 92,869 dogs and attained 80% coverage. This action reduced the number of rabies cases to 10 dogs in 2013 from 19 dogs in 2012. “There are existing laws and local ordinances to arm us in this mission. However, we need to continue and heighten the action. A culture of responsible pet ownership should be developed because it is key to a rabies-free community,” Governor Salceda said.
OIE Special Adviser Dr. Gardner Murray said “the frameworkused for therabies projectwas a new approach for OIEin that it allowed funds and vaccines to be given to the Government of the Philippines who would in turn manage the project.”Governance arrangements are being put in place to assist in program delivery and Dr. Murray said he was confident that, given the skills, enthusiasm and commitment of all involved, the project would meet its objectives.