Dr Muhammad Abbas, Head of Department, Microbiology and Parasitology, Bayero University, Kano State has decried the low vaccination of dogs to eliminate rabies in Nigeria by 2030.
Abbas, an expert in vaccine preparation, kicked against the inadequate vaccination of dogs against rabies in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday in Abuja.
Abbas said that vaccination remains the most cost-effective means of preventing, controlling and eradicating infectious diseases.
He stated that some countries had acted to strengthen rabies’ control efforts by scaling up dog vaccination programmes, and making human biologicals for post-exposure and pre-exposure prophylaxis more accessible.
The don said that such countries had been proactive by engaging communities on rabies.
According to him, Nigeria, however, is yet to intensify efforts toward the elimination of this disease.
Abbas says the Global Strategic Plan sets three objectives for affected countries, development partners, and key stakeholders, to effectively use vaccines, medicines, tools and technologies.
He saId that these measures would stop dog rabies transmission and reduce the risk of human death emanating from the disease.
“Countries are to generate evidence-based guidance and high-quality data, to measure impact and inform policy decisions and to harness multi-stakeholder engagement, to sustain commitment and resources,” he said.
According to Abbas, rabies is one of the neglected tropical vaccine-preventable diseases and predominantly affects poor and vulnerable populations, who live in remote rural locations.
He said: “Vaccinating dogs is the most cost-effective strategy for preventing rabies in people.
“Dog vaccination reduces deaths attributable to rabies and the need for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) as a part of dog bite patient’s care.
“In Nigeria, more than 50,000 people die each year from human rabies, with rabid dogs accounting for over 90 per cent of confirmed human infection.
“We are not sure of the estimated Nigerians that receive PEP each year after being exposed to animals with suspected rabies, because there is no data to support this confirmation.
“Rabies PEP is close to 100 per cent effective. Rabies is fatal in more than 99.9 per cent of humans that develop the disease.“
The don called on the government to do more, to meet the Global Strategic Plan.
He advised the Federal Government to generate accurate data to monitor the trend of disease and also intensify awareness of rabies’ prevention and dog vaccination in Nigeria.
Abbas called for the provision of cost-effective vaccines that would be able to reach Nigerians at the right time.
Reports have it that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had in 2018 introduced a new global strategic plan to eliminate dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
The organisation described rabies as one of the oldest and most terrifying diseases known to man.
Written and pictorial records of rabies date back more than 4,000 years and today, it is endemic in more than 150 countries around the world.
Even though the disease can be prevented, it kills an estimated 59, 000 people each year, mostly in the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.
About 40 per cent of the victims are children younger than 15 years, living in Asia and Africa.
A staggering 99 per cent of human cases are acquired via the bite of an infected dog, rather than through exposure to the many and varied wild animals.
According to WHO, these animals act as viral reservoirs on different continents.