DOH aiming for rabies-free RP by 2020

With the Philippines still considered a "global hot spot" for rabies, the Department of Health (DOH) embarked Saturday on a strengthened campaign to free the country from the viral disease by 2020.

All sectors in the country must take part in the government’s anti-rabies programs, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said, saying the Philippines still ranks sixth worldwide in terms of high rabies incidence. This means three to five cases per million people.

"Rabies can be eliminated and this is actually part of the ongoing Disease-Free Zones Initiatives of the DOH. All of us must take part in the national movement to end the scourge of rabies in the country," Duque stressed.

Rabies is a frequently fatal and acute viral infection that can be acquired from bites of infected animals like dogs, raccoons or bats or when their saliva touches a scrape or cut on the skin.

At present, the regions with the most number of human rabies cases are Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, SOCSKSARGEN, Central and Eastern Visayas, Central Luzon and Bicol.

It was observed that human rabies is more common during summer time. The usual victims are children, many of whom, because classes are out, play on the streets thus, making them more exposed to dogs.

Under the program, the DOH and the Bureau of Animal Industry encourage the public to become responsible pet owners by ensuring that their dogs are given vaccination against rabies and by preventing them from straying.

Duque added that those bitten by dogs should immediately get anti-rabies shots before any symptom manifests itself.

"If rabies is not eliminated, then it is likely to continue hounding the Philippines as a fierce threat to both human health and the nation’s economy with the extremely prohibitive cost of human treatment particularly for poor victims," he said. – Sheila Crisostomo