New educational materials and presentations

Lack of awareness continues to be the top reason why people continue to die from rabies across the world. That's why this year we've expanded our education bank with new posters for Afghanistan, China, Haiti and the Caribbean Region as well as updated materials, toolkits and talking points for health departments, media personnel, school teachers and veterinarians. Some recently contributed resources also available on the website include a "Be Safe Around Dogs" coloring book for children, "Rabies PEP Basics" free online course for health care providers and lesson plans for school children. On September 28, 2011, World Rabies Day events and observances will help raise awareness and education about the need to vaccinate animals, wash bite wounds and seek medical attention immediately after a bite. Awareness of these three steps will help save a person from rabies. By communicating these simple life-saving messages on World Rabies Day, we can all get involved and make a difference.

Please also join the more than 3000 participants from 72 countries that have already registered for the 2nd Annual World Rabies Day Webinar on Sept 21-22, 2011. The Webinar brings together noted leaders in rabies research, One-Health advocates, professionals, students and World Rabies Day event planners in real-time to discuss the important public health issue of rabies while providing a forum for dialogue within and across disciplines. The two day event will focus on canine rabies elimination; human rabies surveillance, prevention and intervention; wildlife rabies control; information and education campaigns and building sustainable programs. Day 1 (Sept 21) of the Webinar will concentrate on presentations from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Day 2 (Sept 22) will spotlight talks from North America, Latin America and the Caribbean Regions. There is no cost to attend the Webinars but registration is required. For more information please go to http://rabiesalliance.org/world-rabies-day/.