Australia to help India control rabies
June 22nd, 2012 - 5:04 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, June 22 (IANS) Experts from an Australian non-governmental organisation will collaborate with Indian health professionals on enhancing skills to carry out anti-rabies programmes.
NGO Vets Beyond Borders will provide training to Indian veterinary professionals under a programme launched June 18.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), rabies kills over 21,000 people in southeast Asia, nearly 45 percent of global deaths occur due to the disease.
In the partnership, Indian vets, vet assistants, dog catchers and programme managers will undergo a year-long training programme on carrying out effective anti-rabies programmes through mass vaccination and sterilisation of street dogs.
“The Indian government has recognised rabies as the No. 1 zoonotic disease (a disease spread from animals to humans) in the upcoming Five Year Plan,” said Catherine Schuetze, executive director, Vets Beyond Borders India.
The programme started in 2009 in a collaboration between Vets Beyond Borders and the Animal Welfare Board of India.
“The University of Queensland is excited to be involved in this programme and wants to develop strong linkages and research collaborations with their veterinary counterparts in India,” Schuetze said.
The training, funded by the Australian government, aims at training around 600 animal health professionals from all across India until April 2013.
The agency will partner with the Animal Welfare Board of India, eventually transferring capacity building skills and expertise to Indian public sector personnel.
Global United Nations’ agency on health, WHO, defines rabies as a disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans from animals. It infects domestic and wild animals, and is spread to people through close contact with infected saliva via bites or scratches.
The NGO has been working with the Sikkim government since 2005 on a state-wide rabies prevention programme.
The northeastern state has not reported any human rabies death over the last four years.
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- 1.4 bn at rabies risk in Southeast Asia: WHO - Sep 27, 2011
- South Asia: Hot spot for cross-border diseases - Aug 14, 2012
- 'System needed to prevent zoonotic diseases in South Asia' - Aug 04, 2012
- Rabies deaths rattle Andhra - Jun 04, 2011
- Dog bite kills two in Andhra Pradesh - May 26, 2011
- Skkims stray dogs getting humane treatment - Oct 08, 2008
- Has Srinagar gone to the dogs, residents ask (Jammu and Kashmir Newsletter) - Jul 20, 2012
- Rabies outbreak death toll reaches 100 in Indonesia's Bali - Oct 15, 2010
- Lucknow's civic body gnashes teeth against stray dogs - Aug 26, 2010
- Dogs' day out in Delhi, sterilisation in a fix - Aug 02, 2010
- Srinagar's 'dogged' problem giving nightmares - Feb 13, 2011
- Dog walking 'one of UK's fastest-growing job' - Apr 10, 2011
- Another man dies of rabies in Andhra - May 19, 2011
- Dogs at Queen's estate in Sandringham struck by rare disease - Sep 19, 2011
Tags: animal health professionals, animal welfare board, dog catchers, governmental organisation, human rabies, indian government, indian health, mass vaccination, northeastern state, people in southeast asia, rabies prevention, research collaborations, sterilisation, street dogs, united nations agency, university of queensland, veterinary professionals, wild animals, world health organisation, zoonotic disease