Each year on 28 September, the world observes World Rabies Day (WRD), founded in 2007 by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The date marks the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, who developed the first rabies vaccine. Now in its 19ᵗʰ edition, WRD carries its most urgent message yet: “Act Now: You, Me, Community.”

Notably, this is the first time the slogan leaves out the word rabies, a deliberate call to shared, immediate responsibility.

Rabies: A Preventable Yet Neglected Killer

Rabies still claims about 59,000 lives every year, almost entirely following dog bites in rural Africa and Asia. Once symptoms appear, rabies is nearly 100% fatal. Yet it is also entirely preventable, through dog vaccination, timely post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and community awareness.

Global Progress Toward “Zero by 2030”

Since 2010, rabies deaths have fallen by nearly 28%, thanks to mass dog vaccination, wider PEP access, and education campaigns. WRD is now marked in 155 countries, and regions such as Latin America’s Andes Corridor are on the brink of halting dog-to-human transmission.

Barriers That Still Remain

1. Weak Surveillance: Up to 60% of cases go unreported or misclassified as “unknown encephalitis.” Tools like GARC’s free, real-time Data Platform are helping countries track bite cases and vaccination coverage.
2. Poor Access to PEP: Three in five bite victims in low-income settings cannot access lifesaving prophylaxis on time due to cost, stock-outs, or distance.
3. Low Dog Vaccination Coverage: Global dog-vaccination coverage remains at ~30%, far below the 70% threshold needed to break transmission.

One Health in Action

Rabies prevention is a model One Health success: vaccinating dogs protects humans, livestock, and wildlife. Joint surveillance and integrated bite-case management also reduce unnecessary PEP use, saving costs and improving efficiency.

New Tools & Innovations

• Single-dose intradermal vaccines under trial may halve PEP costs.
• Portable LAMP assays detect rabies virus in under 30 minutes, ideal for field confirmation.
• SMS reminders and ring vaccination boosted dog coverage by >20% in pilot programs.

Stories of Success

• Sikkim, India eliminated human rabies through sustained dog vaccination and sterilisation; neighbouring states are now scaling the model.
• Serengeti, Tanzania eliminated rabies from dogs and wildlife after five years of maintaining 70% dog vaccination, without resorting to culling.

Beyond Dogs: Why It Still Matters?

Dogs remain responsible for 95% of human rabies deaths, but other reservoirs are gaining ground. Bat-borne rabies in the Amazon, jackal cycles in Africa, and mongoose outbreaks in India highlight the risk of wildlife re-seeding rabies into dog populations. Rising wildlife-human contact due to deforestation and ecotourism further underscores the need to address these sources to protect progress. Ignoring these sources could undo hard-won progress.

How You, Me, Community Can Act Now ?

With fewer than five years left to reach the Zero by 30 goal, the 2025 theme is a reminder that the tools already exist: effective vaccines, affordable PEP, community-based strategies, and real-time data platforms.

What’s needed is commitment, from governments, institutions, and individuals alike. Ending rabies is not just a global health dream, it is within reach. But only if you, me, and our communities act, starting today!

References

1. Global Alliance for Rabies Control (https://rabiesalliance.org)
2. World Health Organization. Rabies – key facts [Fact sheet]. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies. Accessed 3 Sept 2025.
3. Byrnes H, Britton A, Bhutia T. Eliminating Dog-Mediated Rabies in Sikkim, India: A 10-Year Pathway to Success for the SARAH Program. Front Vet Sci. 2017;4:28. Published 2017 Mar 15. doi:10.3389/fvets.2017.00028