Together Against Rabies
Liz Davidson has been working in our communications team for 3 years, and has recently become responsible for GARC’s Global Community Engagement. Here she talks about the role of the global community in rabies control:
We’re always conscious that our community is spread across the world. You might be anywhere from Australia to Zimbabwe but wherever you are, you are an important member of a global community working to prevent rabies. It is people like you who make a difference.
In the current newsletter, we bring news from Uganda, Gabon, Bangladesh, the Philippines and London which all show collaborative effort to be the foundation of their success.
In Uganda, Daktari, an Andorran NGO have been working on a collaborative project which aims to bring veterinary support to people living in and near wildlife protected areas.
GARC’s Lea Knopf recently took part in an intersectoral meeting on strengthening rabies control in Gabon. She saw how significant progress can be made in a short time, by just gathering all agencies around one table.
The last three year’s immense progress in Bangladesh originated in collaboration between government, international agencies and non-profit partners.
And in London, researchers from the Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health at the University of Glasgow got to meet the Queen and talk to her about their work and rabies as a global problem.
Talking about global, we are now less than six months away from World Rabies Day 2014 and plans are already underway. Today I can tell you this year’s theme is Together Against Rabies.
We have chosen this theme for two reasons, the first is to prevent rabies we need to reach out to each other and work together.
The second is because fear of rabies divides its victims – pitching people against dogs. Whether you are an animal lover or not, rabies is an exemplar case of One Health, where improving animal healthcare protects people, benefiting all. This theme expresses the One Health principle.
If you are interested in organizing an event this year, you will soon be able to download an individual organizer’s pack from our world rabies day webpage.
We’re also in the process of developing a pack aimed at governments and organisations. Please remember to check our twitter and Facebook feeds for announcements of when this is ready.
And as always, we love to hear from you. Please do get in touch with us via email if you have comments, suggestions, or stories.