World Rabies Day

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2007/world_rabies_day/en/index.html

(WHO主題) World Rabies Day

Date: 8 September 2007 Place: Worldwide

The mission of World Rabies Day is to raise awareness about the impact of human and animal rabies, how easy it is to prevent, and how to eliminate the human disease by combating it in its animal reservoirs.

It is estimated that 55,000 people die every year from rabies, that is, one death every 10 minutes. In addition, 10 million people receive rabies vaccine injections in Asia and Africa following bites from dogs which might have rabies. Once a person is bitten by an animal suspected to be rabid, vaccines must be administered to prevent rabies. There are safe and effective vaccines available for people who have been bitten, but to date they have been little used in developing countries because of their high costs.

World Rabies Day is an initiative of a charity named Alliance for Rabies Control (ARC) and of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta in the United States. WHO is happy to co-sponsor the 2007 events, which will draw attention to the magnitude of the problem and the measures which developing countries can undertake.