Ondangwa
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry – in partnership with the German government – has launched a rabies control pilot project to reduce help rabies in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs), where it is most prevalent.
The German government committed over N$5 million towards the battle against rabies in the country over the next three years and the project will be piloted within 12 months in Oshana Region.
The project was launched by Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry Anna Shiweda at Ondangwa yesterday and is envisaged to reduce rabies and subsequently ensure vaccination coverage of about 70 percent of Oshana Region.
The project is scheduled to be rolled out to other northern communal regions once deemed successful in the piloting region.
Around 55 000 people die of rabies each year worldwide, which translates to one death every ten minutes.
In Namibia, rabies kills on average 10 to 15 people yearly, of which the majority are children under the age of 15 – mostly from the NCAs.
According to Shiweda, 258 to 370 cases were reported in humans between 2011 and 2015, while over 497 cases were detected in dogs in the country.
Shiweda appealed to the public to prioritise dog vaccination to control both animal and human rabies, saying that rabies has major economic impacts in the poor communities.
“The cost of life-saving human vaccines, hospitalisation and livestock losses to farmers due to rabies have large economic impacts, especially for poor communities,” Shiweda said.
She further said the country already struggles with gender-based violence and drought catastrophes, therefore controlling and eliminating rabies is critically important to prevent human deaths, preserve productivity and secure income for rural communities.
A representative from the German government, chief veterinary officer Karen Schwabenbauer, said the launched project is an important contribution to eliminating dog rabies in Namibia.