Free Pet Vaccination For Sep 27
Source: KPL
Pet vaccination will be conducted for free of charge at the Chao Fa Ngum Park in Vientiane Capital on Sep 27 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
The event will be organized by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to celebrate the 13th World Rabies Day and raise public awareness of rabies prevention.
World Rabies Day, the biggest annual awareness event in the rabies prevention will be held on Sep 28 under the theme–Rabies: Vaccinate to Eliminate–Focuses on Vaccination, the Foundation of All Rabies Control Efforts.
“28 September also marks the anniversary of Louis Pasteur’s death, the French chemist and microbiologist, who developed the first rabies vaccine,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Bounkouang Khambounheuang.
“I would like everyone bring their dogs, cats or other pets to receive vaccination on the day (Sep 27, 2019),” said Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Phouthone Meuangpak.
A WHO survey suggests that every year more than 59,000 people die of rabies because they don’t get the care they need after being bitten by infected pets. That’s about 1 person dying of rabies every 9 minutes.
Most of these deaths are in Africa and Asia, and nearly half of the victims are children under the age of 15. Many of these lives can be saved if bite victims and healthcare providers know what to do and have what they need — rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin.
“Measures to prevent rabies in people are simple: wash the wound right after you are bitten and get follow-up care and vaccination immediately,” said Dr Mark Andrew Jacobs, WHO Representative to Laos.