WHO receives nearly US$10 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to spur elimination of rabies in low-income countries

The WHO Department of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) has received a grant of US$9,996,674 to demonstrate and promote an evidence-based strategy for the prevention and elimination of human rabies in low income countries.

The five-year project began 1 November 2008, and will be implemented in rabies endemic regions of Tanzania, Kwa Zulu Natal in South Africa and the Visayas archipelago of the Philippines. It aims to achieve a 'paradigm shift' in strategic planning and implementation of activities, and to generate information about how attaining successful rabies control differs based on the geographic, demographic, cultural, organizational, tactical and other heterogeneities of the three project areas.

Rabies is a viral disease that infects domestic and wild animals. It is usually transmitted to humans through the bite of a rabid dog. Once symptoms develop, rabies is fatal to both animals and humans. More than 55 thousand people die every year from the preventable disease. More than 95% of human-rabies deaths occur in Asia and Africa, with most of the victims being children below the age of 15. Rabies is essentially a neglected disease of poverty, and in Africa and Asia millions of treatments and vaccinations are delivered annually.

Substantial research realized throughout the 20th century led to the development of safe, affordable and efficacious animal and human vaccines, resulting in declining disease burden through control in domestic (mostly dogs) and wild animals (foxes, raccoons, and coyotes) in several developed and developing countries.

However, incidence of dog rabies continues to escalate across Asia and Africa due to the low priority of its control. This is mainly due to a lack of awareness of the true magnitude of the disease burden and lack of understanding about the feasibility, cost-effectiveness and public health benefits of dog rabies control.

The WHO project is expected to increase rabies awareness in the three target countries and demonstrate that a strategy based on dog rabies control is sustainable, cost-effective and can lead to the elimination of the disease in humans. The project will also give a boost to similar initiatives for the control and elimination of rabies in Africa and Asia within the next decade.