LSPCA is the partner of choice for the Lilongwe City Council and the Department of Animal Health and Livestock development to deliver the city-wide annual rabies campaign. Since 2013 LSPCA has vaccinated more than 100 000 dogs!
Our annual urban rabies vaccination campaign is a grueling month-long activity aimed at vaccinating 70% of the urban dog population as recommended by the World Health Organisation. A team of 36 vaccinate, mark, and capture data at 56 vaccination sites in the city. We partner with Welttierschutzgesellschaft in Germany, the Lilongwe City Council, the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, broadcast media, and public health authorities.
Key elements of our campaign:
- Working with a team of local staff, students, and international volunteers, we aim to vaccinate at least 70% of Lilongwe’s dog population against rabies, recommended by the World Health Organisation as a proven means of preventing rabies in people.
- Our smartphone app (designed by Imperial College London) is used to track vaccination coverage and to provide valuable scientific data on the rabies situation and the dog population in Lilongwe.
- Our education campaign teaches children about the dangers of rabies and how to behave around dogs to prevent dog bites through visually effective posters and interactive presentations. During the month of July 2016, LSPCA reached more than 60,000 children in Lilongwe.
- LSPCA’s veterinary manager, Dr. Tino Razemba, provides veterinary infrastructure, running animal welfare and handling courses for all staff, veterinary students, and international volunteers involved in the campaign.
We’re looking for volunteers!
Why do we need to eliminate rabies?
- Rabies kills
According to World Health Organization, every year, an estimated 59 000 people worldwide die of one of the oldest diseases known to man: rabies. Rabies is spread via bites and scratches from infected animals. Dogs are responsible for 99% of human cases. Clinically, rabies is characterized by loss of consciousness, hyperactivity, hallucinations, and hydrophobia/fear of water (furious rabies), or paralysis and coma (paralytic rabies), progressing rapidly and inevitably death.
- Rabies is preventable
Although fatal once clinical signs appear, rabies is preventable through three proven, effective interventions.
- Awareness; includes an understanding of how to prevent rabies in animals by vaccinating dogs, and what to do in case of a dog bite, which is washing the bite wound with soap and water or methylated spirit for at least 15 minutes.
- Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP); consists of a series of rabies vaccines and, in some cases, rabies immunoglobulin (RIG), administered after suspected exposure to rabies. PEP for rabies is administered by qualified medical personnel. Appropriate wound management and prompt access to quality-assured PEP is almost 100% effective in preventing human rabies deaths.
- Mass dog vaccination; is the proven, cost-effective way to save human lives by stopping transmission of rabies at its source. Disease models and real-world experience show that sustained vaccination coverage of 70% of dog populations is sufficient to stop transmission of the disease between dogs, and from dogs to humans. Eliminating rabies in dogs is therefore key to sustainably prevent rabies disease in humans.
- Rabies affects the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Most rabies cases occur in Africa and Asia. Approximately 80% of human cases occur in rural areas, and over 40% of rabies deaths occur in children aged under 15 years. People continue to die of rabies because it is neglected; due to lack of awareness of the disease; because the disease remains uncontrolled in dogs and because people lack access to basic medical care, following an exposure.
DHIS2 Training
DHIS2 is the app that is used countrywide to track data on several diseases such as Covid and Rabies. Officials from District Health Offices, Central Vet Labs, NGO's and Department for Animal Health and Livestock Development across Malawi are being trained in collaboration with Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) to ensure reliable data which enables us to reach our goal of zero human deaths by rabies by 2023
Emergency Relief Support
We are grateful for our partners WTG-Germany, who are always ready to support us with emergency relief when we need to respond swiftly to a rabies outbreak. Their continued support enables us to confine rabies outbreaks and save people and animals in Malawi.
