World Rabies Day Campaign: Evaluating a Global Initiative

P. Orlosky², C. Williams¹, J. Blanton², D. Briggs³, R. Dedmon⁴, A. Tumpey², P. Costa¹

 ¹Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Manhattan, KS/US, ²U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA/US, ³Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine, Pathobiology, Manhattan, KS/US, ⁴Medical College of Wisconsin, Population Health, Milwaukee, WI/US

Rabies, one of the oldest known zoonotic diseases, is a 100% preventable yet results in approximately 55,000 deaths each year, almost one person every 10 minutes. Community education has proven to be effective in raising awareness and adoption of prevention behaviors. The World Rabies Day initiative aims to bring together all of the important stakeholders towards the common objective of human rabies prevention and animal rabies control. World Rabies Day (WRD) is the only worldwide event of its kind, advocating for the improved health of the total population, both human and animal, through a One Medicine approach.

The success of World Rabies Day is promising. In just three years, the Campaign has helped to educate nearly 100 million people and vaccinate approximately 3 million animals. 

Inputs from: 

Peter J Costa, MPH CHES (Health Educator), Director, Global Communications, Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Manhattan, USA