By Enock Akonnor enockakonnor2013@gmail.com
Vaccination of pets against rabies in Ashanti region has witnessed as dwindling trend since the year 2019 to 2022.
Per available records, number of dogs which were vaccinated in 2019 was 25,370, 20,819 for the year 2020, 13,215 for the year 2021 and 10,625 for the year 2022.
That of cats is captured as 1,219, 438, 203 and 399 for years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 respectively.
Vertinary Officer for Ashanti region Dr. Mabel Abudu has decried the situation, saying that the cause partly owes to the high cost of the vaccine.
She has indicated that because vaccination of pets against rabies is not for free, pet owners especially those in rural communities are deterred from vaccinating their pets against the disease.
Other challenges in relation to logistics according to her are affecting the routine vaccination done by Vertinary officers within the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
Specifics on the foregoing include bad state of motor bikes, fuelling, weak numerical strength of staff among others.
Dr. Mabel Abudu made this disclosure on the sidelines of a day’s media engagement organised by the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate on Thursday 4th May 2023.
The focus was to equip participants with knowledge and ultimately enhance the prevention and control of rabies as they execute their role as media practitioners.
The workshop was held under the theme; “Enhancing Rabies Prevention and Control: The Role of The Media”.
As a way of addressing the foremost challenge, the Regional Vertinary Officer called on government to take rabies vaccination as a priority by making it free annually.
Per WHO statistics as indicated in her presentation at the workshop, rabies is responsible for 59% of human deaths every year.
Most of the victims live in rural communities found in Asia and Africa.
40 percent of the deaths occur among children below 15 years and that in every nine minutes, somebody dies of the zoonotic disease.
It is estimated that thousands of animals die of rabies every year.
Rabies is 100 percent fatal with no cure ones clinical signs set in.
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