A pet dog gets vaccination against rabies (Photo: VNA)Bac Giang (VNA) – Health care officials from 63 localities
nationwide gathered at a conference in Bac Giang city of the northern province
of Bac Giang on September 26 to discuss measures to control and erase rabies in
Vietnam.
Director of the Son La province’s Centre Nguyen Tien
Dung pointed to crucial need for stronger engagement of localities in fighting rabies,
especially in controlling pet dogs.
Head of the Department of Breeding and Animal Health of Bac Giang City
Hoang Dang Huyen held that it is necessary to increase safety measures to
prevent dogs attacks on humans as well as vaccination for against rabies.
He also stressed the importance of communications in the community on the need
to apply measures to prevent rabies.
Vietnam aims to thoroughly control rabies in 2021 when the ratio of
localities with high risk of rabies in humans reduces by 60 percent and the
fatality of the disease is down 60 percent compared to the 2011-2015 period,
thus heading towards eliminating the disease in the future.
Participants pointed to difficulties in rabies prevention, including
poor awareness of the community and a lack of effective plans to fight rabies.
They proposed that in 2021, it is important to improve the awareness of
the community, local governments and relevant agencies in the field.
The should also build plans for
active control of the disease, they said, adding that Vietnam should asks for
international organisations’ support in vaccine against .
According to the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, rabies has occurred in 150 countries in the
globe, killing about 60,000 people and forcing 15 million people to take
preventive medicine each year.
Rabies causes average economic loss of estimated 8.6 billion USD each
year globally, it added.
In Vietnam, last year, only 2.9 million out of 7.7 million pet dogs, or
38.5 percent, received vaccines against rabies.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
