World Rabies Day is the first and only global day of action and awareness dedicated to rabies prevention. It is an opportunity to unite as a community – helping individuals, civil society, and governments to connect and share their work. On 28th September of every year, NGOs, governments, and people from all over the world will unite to on World Rabies Day to spread awareness about the dangers of the disease, and how it can be stopped. The event, put on by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC), seeks to educate the public about how rabies can be eradicated in people and domestic animals if we take the appropriate steps.
Around the world, dogs are the most common animal affected by rabies, with more than 99 percent of human cases coming from dog bites. GARC sponsors the event not only to raise awareness for one day, but with the hope that communities can put measures in place to help control the spread of rabies all year round.
The Theme is for this year is: “Rabies: Facts, not Fear”.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has raised many doubts and misconceptions about diseases, their spread and about vaccination in general. Because of this, there has been some hesitancy about the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines in many countries and many people are afraid to get vaccinated. For rabies, this is nothing new, as fears, misconceptions and misinformation about the disease and its prevention dates back hundreds of years. For that reason, this year’s theme is focused on sharing facts about rabies, and not spreading fear about the disease by relying on misinformation and myths.
#RabiesDay
