Blueprint for Canine Rabies Elimination and Human Rabies Prevention

In an effort to help countries find and implement realistic solutions to reduce the burden of rabies throughout their territory, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Partners for Rabies Prevention and FAO's Regional Central Animal Health in Bamako, under the coordination of Dr Tiziana Lembo, have launched the new on-line "Blueprint for Canine Rabies Elimination and Human Rabies Prevention" (www.rabiesblueprint.com).

“Rabies continues to be an active threat in many countries throughout the world”, said Global Alliance for Rabies Control’s Executive Director Dr Deborah Briggs. “The Blueprint is a breakthrough for the global rabies community and serves as a guide for countries that want to prevent human rabies by eliminating canine rabies within their borders.”

The Blueprint is applicable for countries where rabies is present and also for countries where rabies has been re-introduced. It brings together recommendations from international health organizations and other global stakeholders involved in rabies control. Published data from the field and case study reports are also incorporated into the groundbreaking document.

“The Blueprint is not meant to replace existing material or national guidelines”, said Briggs. “It has been developed to serve as an easy-to-use guide and a one-stop website where national stakeholders can find up-to-date normative and practical information on how to prevent and control rabies.”

Currently, the Blueprint is available in English and French. Additional languages are soon to follow and will help increase the website's usage in other countries. More chapters addressing wildlife rabies control will also be added in the future.

“We invite everyone involved in rabies control throughout the world to utilize the Blueprint and look forward to comments and feedback on how we may improve the website.”

Global Alliance for Rabies Control
Founded in 2007 by leading rabies experts from the fields of veterinary sciences, epidemiology, and human medicine, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (www.rabiescontrol.net) is the foremost non-profit organization dedicated to preventing rabies in humans and animals worldwide. Since its formation, the Alliance has educated over 100 million people in 200 countries and is the creator and coordinator of the annual World Rabies Day (www.worldrabiesday.org).