Ghana yesterday joined the rest of the world to celebrate the World Rabies Day, rolling out a five-year anti-rabies campaign to achieve 70-per cent vaccination coverage of dog population.
The programme is to break the viral circle of rabid infection in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture in charge of Livestock, Dr Alfred Tia, who launched activities marking World Anti-Rabies day in Accra yesterday, said the five-year programme which would include surveillance was intended to reduce cases of dog bites from stray dogs.
Statistics available at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) indicate that dog bites registered in the country in 2008 stood at 673. Out of the figure, 24 positive cases were recorded in the Greater Accra Region alone.
The statistics further indicate that from January to August, 2009, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Veterinary Clinic recorded 16 positive cases of rabies out of 428 dog bites from stray dogs.
The Deputy Minister said the incidence of rabid bites and infection was an “alarming situation’’ and urged stakeholders and donors involved to go the extra mile with funding to assist in the preventive and control measures.
He noted that the statistics indicated that stray dogs posed a serious public health hazards for the control of rabies.
The Deputy Minister explained that under the five-year programme, the Veterinary Services Department would ensure the availability of various vaccines at all times and in all communities for mass vaccination.
He said MOFA was collaborating with the Ministry of Health to carry out census of dogs and cats in the course of their house-to-house child immunisation exercises.
He said the Department of Veterinary Services was in close collaboration with the School of Public Health to study the socio-economic impact of rabies on the country and to carry out surveillance of the disease to ensure effective control.
Dr K. B. Darkwa, President of Ghana Veterinary Medical Association, said the theme for this year’s celebration, “Rabies- A Neglected Public Health Menace”, was chosen to draw attention of the world to the fact that the disease was a major public health hazard.
He explained that in the past when MOFA carried out mass vaccination of dogs and cats free of charge, there was a reduction in the incidence of both animal and human rabies.
He said the Greater Accra Region recorded in 1990, 1992 and 1993 seven, eight and five cases respectively when there was mass vaccination in those years.
Dr Darkwa said, however, that in 1991 and 1994 when there was no mass vaccination, 40 and 52 cases were respectively recorded.
Since 1994 when the mass campaign was stopped, there has been an upsurge in outbreak of rabid cases in animals and this has manifested in the increase in human rabies.
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