Dr Maryanne Kagai is a Member of National Rabies Elimination Coordination Committee (NRECC) and the Programs manager in charge of animal welfare programs in Africa Network for Animal Welfare. She organizes community awareness and education forums which allow for interactive sessions with all community members to discuss rabies cycle and management.
She has mobilized local and international veterinary volunteer teams to offer spay and neuter services for street dog population control at no cost. This ensures that the risk of dog bites reduces since populations are managed and provides a learning opportunity for local veterinarians in the communities. She also organizes anti-rabies vaccination campaigns for dogs and cats (free of charge) in the different communities. This promotes reduced risk of rabies transmission to humans thus encouraging better care of the community dogs.
Dr Kagai organizes sessions for capacity building for local vet officers in the different communities on surveillance and monitoring techniques as well as other data management skills for better disease management strategies.
(Excerpt from nomination)