Your Work
Where do you work?
Multiple communities covering Sudur Pashchim Province of Nepal
When did you start your work?
2022
What rabies elimination work do you do?
Dr. Naresh Prasad Joshi is taking a holistic approach to contribute to Rabies elimination and has taken lot of personal initiatives apart from his regular official duties. He is conducting active surveillance and proactively testing samples from suspected animals to detect Rabies cases. This is substantiated by the fact that in the laboratory which only 10-15 samples used to be tested per year up to 2022 before he joined the laboratory tested more than 150 plus brain samples annually in 2023 and 2024 from suspected animals covering all districts of Sudur Pashchim province, one of the remote provinces of Nepal. This increased detection of Rabies cases has created pressure in the province, thereby creating an enabling environment to conduct a series of Rabies control activities which is again led by Dr. Naresh.
One of the critical activities being undertaken in the leadership of Dr. Naresh is the Rabies School Awareness Campaigns. For this, a cohort of 25 trainers (veterinarians) working in all 9 districts of Sudur Pashchim province were trained and were provided with standard teaching materials and clear messages on Rabies prevention. The messages delivered to students included seeking medical care during animal bites, vaccinating their pet and community dogs, and proper wound washing during animal bites. The trained veterinarians, including Dr. Naresh himself reached out to more than 100 schools in the province and conducted awareness campaigns reaching out to more than 6,300 school students during September-October 2023. A brochure and poster on Rabies and a notebook and a pen with Rabies vaccination message were also provided to schools and participating students. Dr. Naresh collaborated with Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (FAO ECTAD) Nepal to obtain these materials. Apart from the Rabies Day events, Dr. Naresh is also conducting awareness programs in the communities on a regular basis wherever he goes for Rabies surveillance.
Dr. Naresh has also taken a lead role in capacity building of field level animal health professionals in brain sample collection through a relatively novel, easier and safe technique called “Occipital Foramen Approach”. In collaboration with FAO ECTAD Nepal and Department of Livestock Services (DLS), he has already provided hands-on training on brain sample collection for Rabies diagnosis to nearly 100 field level animal health technicians and veterinarians in the province. This has helped in the sample flow and Rabies case detection.
Besides, he also collaborated with FAO ECTAD Nepal and DLS to conduct animal birth control (ABC) surgery training to 16 veterinarians of the province in December 2023 to contribute in dog population management who have neutered more than 2200 dogs since then to contribute in dog population management. Besides, he led to vaccinate more than 15,000 dogs in the province.
In summary, Dr. Naresh is taking a holistic approach to Rabies elimination comprising of Rabies surveillance and diagnosis, school and community awareness campaigns, capacity building of field level professionals and dog population management and mass vaccination.
Your Work in Numbers
Number of animals vaccinated against rabies (last year) 15000
Number of animals sterilized (last year) 2200
Number of children educated (last year) 6300
Number of adults educated (last year) 500
Number of Professionals trained (last year) 116
Number (Other) last year: Brain sample testing for Rabies detection: 180 around
Your Work's Impact
Dr. Naresh Prasad Joshi is taking a holistic approach to contribute to Rabies elimination and has taken lot of personal initiatives apart from his regular official duties. He is conducting active surveillance and proactively testing samples from suspected animals to detect Rabies cases. This is substantiated by the fact that in the laboratory which only 10-15 samples used to be tested per year up to 2022 before he joined the laboratory tested more than 150 plus brain samples annually in 2023 and 2024 from suspected animals covering all districts of Sudur Pashchim province, one of the remote provinces of Nepal. This increased detection of Rabies cases has created pressure in the province, thereby creating an enabling environment to conduct a series of Rabies control activities which is again led by Dr. Naresh.
One of the critical activities being undertaken in the leadership of Dr. Naresh is the Rabies School Awareness Campaigns. For this, a cohort of 25 trainers (veterinarians) working in all 9 districts of Sudur Pashchim province were trained and were provided with standard teaching materials and clear messages on Rabies prevention. The messages delivered to students included seeking medical care during animal bites, vaccinating their pet and community dogs, and proper wound washing during animal bites. The trained veterinarians, including Dr. Naresh himself reached out to more than 100 schools in the province and conducted awareness campaigns reaching out to more than 6,300 school students during September-October 2023. A brochure and poster on Rabies and a notebook and a pen with Rabies vaccination message were also provided to schools and participating students. Dr. Naresh collaborated with Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (FAO ECTAD) Nepal to obtain these materials. Dr. Naresh is also conducting awareness programs in the communities on a regular basis during Rabies surveillance. He has also developed a video on Rabies awareness free of cost by partnering with charity organization.
Dr. Naresh has also taken a lead role in capacity building of field level animal health professionals in brain sample collection through a relatively novel, easier and safe technique called “Occipital Foramen Approach”. In collaboration with FAO ECTAD Nepal and Department of Livestock Services (DLS), he has already provided hands-on training on brain sample collection for Rabies diagnosis to nearly 100 field level animal health technicians and veterinarians in the province. This has helped in the sample flow and Rabies case detection.
Besides, he also collaborated with FAO ECTAD Nepal and DLS to conduct animal birth control (ABC) surgery training to 16 veterinarians of the province in December 2023 to contribute in dog population management who have neutered more than 2200 dogs since then to contribute in dog population management. Besides, he led to vaccinate more than 15,000 dogs in the province.
In summary, Dr. Naresh is taking a holistic approach to Rabies elimination comprising of Rabies surveillance and diagnosis, school and community awareness campaigns, capacity building of field level professionals and dog population management and mass vaccination.
Partners
Government partners
Department of Livestock Services, Kathmandu, Nepal
Provincial Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives
Provincial Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries Development
Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Services Expert Centers
Livestock Services Section of Local levels (Municipalities)
Epidemiology and Disease Control Division
Government collaboration:
Intensively since past 2 years.
NGO Partners
Food and Agriculture Organization of UN, Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (FAO ECTAD) Nepal
My Second Teacher
NGO collaboration:
Intensively since past 2 years.
Other partners
Local communities and schools
Other collaboration:
Intensively since past 2 years.
Innovations and Learnings
What is innovative about your approach?
An innovative approach was used in brain sample collection where brain samples were collected through an occipital foramen approach where only a small incision need to be made at the back of the head and brain samples can be obtained through a plastic sheath. This has eased the sample collection and has become safer. Earlier, field level animal health professionals were hesitant to send samples as they had to either send whole dead animals or cut the head and send it. With increased capacity of animal health professionals in brain sample collection through occipital foramen approach in the leadership of Dr. Naresh, sample flow and subsequent detection of Rabies cases has increased in the Sudur Pashchim province.
Another innovative approach taken by Dr. Naresh in school awareness campaign was that a cohort of veterinarians were first trained to deliver uniform message, and these trained veterinarians were mobilized to reach out to the large number of students within a short span of time period.
Lessons learned (Positive)
There are several positive lessons that have been learned from the Rabies work Dr. Naresh is leading. One greatest positive lesson is that one ethical and a person with a desire to change can bring a lot of changes even in a compromised situation. Another is that by mobilizing a cohort of like-minded people, we can reach out physically to a large number of our stakeholders such as the school children in a short span of time. Further, mobilization of field level animal health professionals by improving their capacity leads to an increased sample flow in the laboratory contributing to intensifying the Rabies surveillance ultimately contributing to Rabies elimination. Also, community mobilization will make task easier during the sample collection and awareness campaigns.
Lessons learned (Negative)
Some areas have been identified which can be considered a lesson learned. Despite lobbying, there is still a lack of endorsed government policy on Rabies elimination. More advocacy and more evidence need to be generated to convince the policy makers to formulate an effective Rabies Elimination Strategy. Further, while Rabies is a one health issue and though one health collaboration and coordination has improved, there is a further work needed in this spectrum.
** All information adapted from the submitted nomination form**
