How political will turned Goa into India's first rabies-controlled State

With zero cases reported in last 5 years, Goa has become the first State in the country to completely eliminate rabies in humans. The State government collaborated with an NGO to control the fatal disease that takes around 60,000 lives every year worldwide - 20,000 being reported from India alone.

A decade-old campaign initiated by voluntary organisation 'Mission Rabies' in association with the Goa government has finally paid off. The State government took several measures to stop the disease from spreading over the years under the campaign. As a result, not a single case has been reported in the State since 2018.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease which has the highest case fatality rate of any infectious disease but has no known cure. The majority of cases in humans occur after being bitten by a rabid dog. Rabies experts agree that vaccinating 70% of dogs in a community would result in herd immunity, which would prevent the disease from circulating.

How Goa succeeded

In October 2021, India launched a new national action plan to end rabies deaths by 2030, in line with a global goal announced by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018. The plan emphasizes a "one health" approach to disease control in which animal, environmental and human health are considered in tandem - meaning that the control of rabies in dog populations is essential for the successful elimination of the disease in humans.

The Goa government launched the project in 2014 with the help of Mission Rabies, which was initially founded as an initiative of the United Kingdom-based outfit Worldwide Veterinary Service. Dr. Murugan Appupillai, Director of Education of the organisation, attributes the success in part to the receptiveness of the state government to the campaign.

"If the political will is there, we could take a very short time to eliminate it," says Appupillai. He believes that Goa's success proves that country-wide elimination of the disease in humans is possible, with consistent support and funding from the government.

Vaccination campaign

The NGO's approach consists of remote teams of dog vaccinators, who systematically work their way through towns and villages vaccinating dogs. This involves catching street dogs in large nets, before vaccinating them and marking them in non-toxic green paint, and then releasing them again. Their progress is recorded in a mobile app, which collects data on dog sightings, geographical areas covered by the team and the details of the vaccinated dogs.

Raising public awareness

Apart from vaccinating the dogs, the project also include programs like creating awareness about in society, such as running education programs in schools across Goa. Children are taught how to avoid dog bites, as well as what to do if bitten. Currently, many rabies deaths occur due to incorrect post-bite treatment.

The WHO recommends that the wound site is thoroughly washed and that the victim is vaccinated within 24 hours, in order to prevent the virus from taking hold. Around 30 to 60 per cent of all rabies victims in India are children under 15.

Education is also important in order to ensure the success of vaccination efforts however, said Dr. Appupillai. "Awareness creation is very, very important to move forward, especially in diseases like rabies, because it involves human support in a big way," he said, explaining that the participation of locals is often vital in helping remote vaccinator teams to find community dogs and vaccinate pets.