The Bohol Rabies Prevention and Elimination Project
Implementation of an Intersectoral Program to Eliminate Human and Canine Rabies: The Bohol Rabies Prevention and Elimination Project Stella Marie D. Lapiz1, Mary Elizabeth G. Miranda2*, Romulo G. Garcia1, Leonida I. Daguro1, Meydalyn D. Paman1, Frederick P. Madrinan1, Polizena A. Rances3, Deborah J. Briggs2 1 Office of the Provincial Veterinarian, Capitol Annex, Tagbilaran City, Philippines, 2 Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Manhattan, Kansas, United States of America, 3 Provincial Health Office, Capitol Annex, Tagbilaran City, Philippines Abstract Background: The province of Bohol, located in the Visayas islands region in the Philippines has a human population of 1.13 million and was the 4th highest region for human rabies deaths in the country, averaging 10 per year, prior to the initiation of the Bohol Rabies Prevention and Elimination Project (BRPEP). Aims: The BRPEP was initiated in 2007 with the goal of building a sustainable program that would prevent human rabies by eliminating rabies at its source, in dogs, by 2010. This goal was in line with the Philippine National Rabies Program whose objective is to eliminate rabies by 2020. Methods: The intersectoral BRPEP was launched in 2007 and integrated the expertise and resources from the sectors of agriculture, public health and safety, education, environment, legal affairs, interior and local government. The program included: increasing local community involvement; implementing dog population control; conducting mass dog vaccination; improving dog bite management; instituting veterinary quarantine; and improving diagnostic capability, surveillance and monitoring. Funding was secured from the national government, provincial, municipal and village units, dog owners, NGOs, the regional office of the WHO, the UBS Optimus Foundation, and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control.
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