RABIES, an incurable disease, remains a scourge in the Philippines, killing more than 200 people a year.
The government, however, is slowly making inroads in its campaign to eradicate the disease by 2020.
Records showed that most rabies cases in the country were caused by dogs.
The Department of Health continues to carry out several initiatives including a massive information dissemination campaign in the provinces.
Dr. Raffy Deray, the national program manager for Rabies Control of the Department of Health (DOH), recently said that responsible pet ownership would help curb rabies cases in the country.
Last year, he added, 257 people died of rabies, with many of the victims children.
Authorities recorded 266,220 animal bites in 2010, mostly by dogs.
Deray said that most pet owners, especially in the provinces, neglect giving their dogs or cats anti-rabies vaccinations.
The health official added that the government’s anti-rabies program is gaining ground since Batanes and Siquijor provinces have been declared free of rabies.
The DOH aims to add Samal Island in Mindanao and Kalinga and Apayao provinces in Luzon to the list of rabies-free areas.
The World Health Organization, which approved the Philippines’ demonstration project against rabies, is partly funding the program.
If the project proves successful, it will also be implemented in other countries.
Deray said that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have donated funds for the government’s anti-rabies campaign.
The DoH has set up Animal Bite Centers in every province where people bitten by animals can get anti-rabies vaccines.
It also continues to conduct community assemblies and lectures in schools about the danger posed by rabies.
For lack of funds, the DoH cannot give free rabies shots at the barangay (village) level.
But some local officials mount such programs every year, such as Makati City, which has joined the drive to eliminate rabies in nine years.
The city, through its Veterinary Services Office, implemented free rabies vaccination for cats and dogs, animal population control program and responsible pet ownership awareness program.
Pet Food Institute and the Animal Welfare Coalition also joined the campaign by developing educational materials that promote proper pet nutrition and responsible pet ownership.
The materials contain information on rabies, its prevention, management of bites and a listing of government hospitals where rabies vaccines are available.
Rabies cases in Eastern Visayas have decline, thanks to a $2-million donation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Boyd Cerro, a nurse of the regional DOH, said that as of September this year, their office monitored only nine rabies cases across the region.
The foundation’s financial assistance was used to purchase anti-rabies vaccines, capacity-building for animal bite centers personnel and incentives to dog vaccinators and in the organization of anti-rabies committees from the barangay up to the regional levels.
The project will last for five years.
The health department is hopeful that by the time the projects ends in 2015, rabies cases in the region would have been eliminated.
