World Rabies Day social media campaigns captured a global audience

On World Rabies Day, GARC reached 70,000 people through Facebook and Twitter, and throughout the month of September alone, over 150,000 people viewed our social media content.

Tens of thousands of people visited the GARC and End Rabies Now websites on World Rabies Day, with a large number of readers viewing the new ”Zero by 30“ strategic plan that was announced in conjunction with the OIE, FAO and WHO.

As the main facilitator of World Rabies Day, GARC provided 24-hour content updates, delivering posts from our teams in the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States over the course of the entire day.

GARC uploaded content to Facebook and Twitter containing useful facts about rabies, dog ownership, and bite prevention. Several posts focused on events commemorating World Rabies day, tying-in all of the online activity with what was happening in the offline world.

In addition, GARC’s Scientific Director, Louise Taylor, participated in a Twitter chat on World Rabies Day, organised by Health4Animals with other rabies experts from Africa, Latin America and Europe, a platform which allowed Dr. Taylor to offer a global perspective of regional rabies prevention projects.

While World Rabies Day is largely focused on events in the offline world, it’s becoming increasingly important to provide people with an online space for discussing rabies control, especially if there are no nearby events. Each year we will continue building the conversation using the hashtag #WorldRabiesDay. Please join us next year!

Contributed by Sophie Kay, GARC