World Rabies Day, 28th September 2020

World Rabies Day is held on the 28th September each year, which is the anniversary of Louis Pasteur’s death.

World Rabies Day is created and co-ordinated annually by Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) and aims to increase awareness of the disease and highlight the importance of vaccination in the goal of ending rabies deaths.

This year is the 14th World Rabies Day, and the theme is “End Rabies: Collaborate, Vaccinate”.

The key messages for health care practitioners and members of the public are to:

• End rabies: a reminder that we have 10 years to commit to the 2030 goal of ending human deaths from dog rabies.
• Collaborate: we need to continue collaboration at international, national and local levels to eliminate rabies – especially keeping in mind that it’s a disease that knows no borders.
• Vaccinate: Human deaths from rabies can be prevented with effective use of vaccination. We also need to remember to vaccinate dogs to prevent rabies at its source so that we can reach elimination.
• Rabies is 99.9% fatal and 100% preventable

World Rabies Day is a reminder to health care practitioners in the UK that Rabies risks should be discussed in all relevant travel consultations.

• The Travax Rabies page and Rabies FAQ page give information on the disease and pre exposure vaccination.
• The post exposure rabies guidance page gives information on where to seek advice when rabies post exposure management is required.
• Consult the relevant country pages for country specific risks.

Further information on how you can support the campaign to eradicate rabies can be found at the Global Alliance for Rabies Control website.