Newsletter Issue 80

This August issue of the GARC newsletter is a little different to the usual newsletter. It's so special, that we only need one article to get your attention! Do not lose hope, this latest article describes the new Communities Against Rabies Initiative to End Rabies Now, spearheaded by GARC. We understand the many challenges we face in our pursuit of rabies elimination and that coordinated collaboration at the community level is the missing link for the “last mile” to elimination. Civil society and local governments often act independently to tackle rabies, duplicating efforts and lacking coordination while public health investments into rabies control were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic and not reinstated, jeopardizing the goal of zero rabies deaths by 2030. We understand that in resource-limited settings – those most severely impacted by rabies – the community-level organizations and institutions play a crucial role as stakeholders in disease surveillance and the implementation of sustainable dog vaccination campaigns.

To address these challenges and operationalize One Health rabies elimination efforts in the communities themselves, we are excited to announce our latest initiative – the Communities Against Rabies (CAR) Initiative to End Rabies Now – in partnership with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and Boehringer Ingelheim.

The CAR initiative is the first of its kind and will empower and mobilize individuals, civil society and communities to control rabies through proven best practices. While the focus will be on each individual community, the vision is a global one, meaning that the CAR aims to support rabies-endemic communities around the world.

Read more below!