The Republic of Philippines has had Rabies as one of the reportable human diseases for a long time. While rabies is primarily an animal disease, it can easily be transmitted to man by bites of infected animals. Of all the infectious diseases that afflict man, rabies is the most dreadful and gruesome. Rabies can easily lead to paralysis if not controlled. It is also known for spreading very fast to the central nervous system and eventually leading to death.
Success story
Philippines however has had its share of a success story in the eradication of rabies in the country. In a country where rabies eradication was considered almost impossible, rabies is almost a thing of the past in Philippines. The success of this pilot project lies in the collaboration between different sectors; human health, animal health and education —taking ownership of the problem and solution by making sure their dogs are constantly vaccinated against rabies.
This has been greatly driven by initiatives such as intensive dog vaccination, surveillance and education pilot programs. Community health workers were also trained to support veterinarians. Together, they arranged vaccination drives and even went door-to-door to reach owners who were unable to take their pets for vaccinations.
World Animal Protection Bench Mark in Philippines
The Philippines have a similar government structure to that of Kenya and this may have triggered World Animal Protection to organize a trip to this state, in order to do a benchmark, and add some new ideas in Rabies elimination to use in the next phase of their campaign. This was made possible with the aid from Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) which is the focal point in Philippines in Rabies eradication, and also a longtime partner to World Animal Protection. GARC is also known for its support in Rabies elimination at technical and advocacy levels in the greater Asia and World Animal Protection is looking to replicate the benchmarking process within Africa Nations.
One Health Initiative
They had a five-work day program both at office level and field level, where they held a meeting with the Bureau for Animal Health- the Ministry of Health. In the meeting, they had a chance to learn more on the One Health Initiative, how it works in terms of political and delivery aspects, how the program runs both at national and sub national levels, and its responsibilities.
In their National labs, the Ministry of Health also illustrated how their surveillance systems work from their Baranganyas (villages), and how the treatment of dog bites and rabies is undertaken.
Rabies Eradication education programs
In Philippines, there are various town councils that have ongoing rabies eradication education programs which are done in schools from Kindergarten levels to community levels. Rabies elimination is taught as a main subject and covers topics such as dog welfare and dog bites prevention.
In one institution, Tropical Medical Government Research Institute, it was evident how medical and human research professors are working together in various research areas such as treatment, national Surveillance and development of rabies test kits, which are easy to use in the given local laboratories.
Other smaller cities also have the education programs in dog vaccinations, rabies control and bites management. They have endorsed legislations on dog vaccinations and are putting them into practice.
World Animal Protection’s Findings
- In Philippines, rabies has a presidential assent and support by citizens
- Governments both at national and regional levels are part of the rabies elimination program and have included it in their annual budgets.
- Philippines is among the leading countries in rabies elimination
- Education and advocacy is well done such that there is a high response of dog ownership and people taking their dogs for vaccinations.
- There are five main ministries integrated in the rabies elimination process. Global organizations such as WHO, FAO AND OIE are also supporting the program greatly.
- Rabies elimination has finally been included in the national curriculum in Philippines.
Conclusion
In every beautiful story, there must be a conclusion. The Kenyan team drew a lot from the visit, the main lessons being solutions around education, legislation, child education and adult advocacy., which they are going to put into practice in their next steps in mass dog vaccination and reproductive control.
Above all, they thought Philippines to be such an amazing success story.
