Dr Bala Muhammed, Chief Executive Officer of Blueblood Veterinary Service, has appealed to veterinary practitioners to make quality vaccines available to pet owners in order to eradicate rabies in the country.
Muhammed gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, to mark the 2021 World Rabies Day.
NAN reports that the World Rabies Day is commemorated annually on Sept. 28 to raise awareness about the impacts of the viral disease and how to prevent it.
The theme for this year is “Rabies: Facts not Fear”.
The day was is also observed globally to mark the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, French biologist, microbiologist and chemist who developed the first rabies vaccine.
Muhammed urged practitioners to reduce fee for vaccination at all times for pet owners adding that such measure would enable the country deal with the dreaded disease.
“Every year, we are reminded of the scourge, the dangers and destruction of lives rabies has brought on its trail,” he said.
He, however, identified rabies as a 100 per cent vaccine-preventable disease.
According to him, immediate and thorough rabid bite wound washing with soap and water is crucial and can save lives.
Speaking on the theme, Muhammed noted that it was to enlighten the people on how to deal with the threat of rabies.
“Regardless of wherever we are, we should confront problems of lack of data, inadequate laboratory surveillance, uncoordinated mass vaccination programmes and lack of political will by different tiers of governments.
“We should as well confront the problem of total abandonment of Stepwise Approach to Rabies Elimination (SARE) as laid down by the global governing authorities of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC).
“Government at national and sub national levels must as a mater of urgency redouble efforts in awareness campaigns, routine vaccination and enforcement of laws that guarantees responsible pet ownership,” he said.
