By Bakary Touray Jr.
The Gambia Government, through the Department of Livestock Services under the Ministry of Agriculture, recently the joined the rest of the globe to commemorate the World Rabies Day (WRD).
The event, held at DLS Lab in Abuko, was graced by anchor Veterinarian, Dr. Babucarr Jaw on behalf of AU- IBAR, and government officials.
In presiding over the official commemoration, Permanent Secretary (PS) No.2 at Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Mr. Momodou Mbye Jabang, said 28th September is set aside for the celebration of World Rabies Day.
He said due to this fact that, the Ministry and its department of livestock and partners commemorate the day with a launching of a free vaccination campaign, as well as unveiling the curtains for a new rabies diagnostic unit in the Central Veterinary Laboratory.
He, therefore, seized the opportunity to thank the collaborating partners of Department of Livestock, especially the Ministry of Health, AU-IBAR, WALIC, the GVC and GVMA, inter alia, for their support. He hoped that the relationship would go a long way in complementing their national endeavor of a Rabies free-Gambia.
The theme for this year’s World Rabies Day is dubbed, Rabies: Vaccinate to eliminate.
Mbye Jabang went on to inform the gathering that the Ministry of Agriculture, through its technical department responsible for veterinary services, is committed to the Global Strategic Plan to Prevent Human Deaths from Dog-transmitted Rabies by 2030.
He identified Rabies as one of the deadliest zoonosis in the world with an estimated 59,000 human deaths each year, globally. To him, this simply means one person dies every 9 minutes from Rabies. He decried that most of those who die are children from rural areas, all over the world, including The Gambia.
He added that more than 95 percent of human cases of Rabies is due to a bite from an infected dog. Nonetheless, he assured that this disease is 100% preventable and dog bites from infected dogs is responsible for almost all of it.
Mbye Jabang opined that this year’s theme really suits their needs; and he’s positive that they could prevent rabies deaths through vaccinating 70% of dogs in the Gambia, intensify their awareness campaign and provide the life- saving Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) post -bite for people.
The Director General, Department of Livestock Services, Dr. Abdou Ceesay, in his welcome remarks reminded them that the purpose of the gathering was to commemorate the World Rabies Day.
He stressed on the importance of the day in the calendar of the Department of Livestock Services. DG Ceesay said WRD is a day marked to control rabies worldwide. He used the moment to commend all its partners for ensuring the successful launching of this day.
