Moving Forward with the GARC-CARE Project in Nias Island, Indonesia

With a common goal to expand rabies-free areas and address the growing threat of rabies in the country, the national government leaders of Indonesia together with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) formally launched the Rabies Mass Vaccination Campaign in Gunungsitoli, Nias Island, North Sumatra, Indonesia last 16 June 2014.

Along with the GARC Team, around 350 people participated in the launching. Key leaders of the Directorate for Animal Health, Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services (DGLAHS), Mayor of Gunungsitoli City, representatives from the Provincial Livestock and Animal Health Services Offices of North Sumatra Province and from the Health Office of Indonesia and North Sumatra Province attended the activity. Community leaders from each district in Nias Island including the Heads of Police, among others also graced the event. 

During the launch volunteer vaccinators from the five districts collected vaccination kits and the Ministry of Health provided them with pre-exposure vaccines for their own protection.

The Office International des Epizooties (OIE) provided 50,000 doses of rabies vaccines for animals.

School children who took part in the drawing competition receive their prizesAnd elementary school children took part in a drawing competition with the theme “Love and Keep our Dogs Well and be a Responsible Owner”.

“The successful implementation of mass rabies vaccination will save the community from rabies and is expected to become the base activity in order to achieve a rabies-free Nias Island”, said Dr. Pudjiatmoko, of DGLAHS Director for Animal Health, highlighting the project’s significance in the community.

He also encouraged the vaccinators, local leaders, and the different sectors to actively participate in implementing the program.  

Meanwhile, GARC Country Representative, Dr. Luningning Villa spoke of the importance of collaborating with the various stakeholders for a successful island-wide dog vaccination campaign, “GARC is closely coordinating with the national and provincial government and we envision that with the cadres of volunteers, we will be able to vaccinate at least 70% of the dogs in the island”.

Dr. Villa added that implementing the project in Nias will be a huge undertaking but a rabies-free Nias Island can be achieved with the full support of the community.

Prior to the launch, 193 volunteer vaccinators attended a series of training sessions across the island. The volunteers, who come from different backgrounds (e.g. farmers, extension workers, animal health workers, pastors), learnt about rabies and the concepts of herd immunity as well as the application of 'cold chain'.

They were also given basic training on vaccination, dog handling, and dog catching. The target is to vaccinate at least 70% of the total dog population in an area within a month.

In addition to being part of the vaccination team, volunteers are also expected to conduct post vaccination survey, IEC (Information, Education, and Communication) campaigns in communities and schools, and implement rapid response actions on dog bite cases.

The team has already started the IEC campaigns in elementary schools. At least 4,629 students from 41 schools in three districts (West Nias, Nias, and Gunungsitoli) took part in the IEC lectures conducted from June 12 to 21, 2014 which covered topics on signs and symptoms of rabies in animals, responsible pet ownership, and animal bite management, among others.

Nias Island is the largest of the islands in the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia with a population of more than 750,000 and an estimated dog population of 50,000. It was previously a ‘rabies-free’ island until a reported outbreak in February 2010 which claimed 26 lives by the end of 2010. In September 2013, a Memorandum of Agreement between GARC and the national government was officially signed signifying GARC’s commitment to support the Rabies Prevention and Eradication Program of Nias.