Rabies elimination project set in motion
The launch of a fun and informative children's booklet is the first of many educational efforts designed by local authorities to eliminate the deadly rabies disease.
RABIES is one of the oldest and most deadliest infectious diseases known to man. To date, there is no cure. However, prevention campaigns have proved successful and in the last two years there has not been a single reported human rabies case in KwaZulu-Natal.
Now the department of agriculture and rural development (ARD), along with the World Health Organisation, Netcare’s KZN Rabies Elimination Project and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, hopes to eliminate the disease completely. Education and prevention plays a massive part in the ambitious campaign.
Last week they launched a new fun and informative booklet, aimed at children: Want a Friend? Be a Friend! The Guide to Pet and Bite Prevention at Netcare Umhlanga Hospital.
“The whole idea behind the book is, by preventing bites, we are preventing rabies. The book targets children as it is better to have the knowledge imbedded at a young age than trying to foster new ideas amongst adults,” said René Grobler, developer of the booklet and member of the Netcare Trauma Division.
At the launch, Kevin Le Rox, the rabies project manager at the department of ARD, said KZN has been historically hardest-hit by the disease.
While there have been no human cases, there have been eight reported dog cases this year. He said the only way to prevent the disease was through consistent and simple behaviour changes.
“More than R57 million is spent on rabies treatments every year. We want to educate people to know that by simply avoiding any aggressive or unknown dogs they can prevent unnecessary bites, unnecessary treatments and ultimately rabies,” he said.
Inoculation of pets is also an additional important habit people can implement to prevent and eliminate the disease.
