World Rabies Day 2023

World Rabies Day aims to raise awareness and advocate for rabies elimination globally, helping to unite all people, organisations, and stakeholders in the fight against rabies. It is held each year on the 28 September - the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur, the first person to successfully create a vaccine against rabies - to celebrate his extraordinary life and work.

This year's theme is "Rabies: All For 1, One Health For All". Based on Alexander Dumas’ novel “The Three Musketeers”, where the heroes overcame injustice and strife as a team to achieve their goals, the 2023 theme aims to remind the global community they need to work to overcome injustice (imbalanced healthcare systems) and strife if the global goal of eliminating rabies in humans by the year 2030 (Zero by 30) is to be achieved.

See the Global Alliance for Rabies Control website for information on how you can get involved with the World Rabies Day campaign.

What is Rabies?

Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic viral disease that is spread through the saliva or nervous system tissues of an infected mammal to another mammal.

• Rabies is virtually 100% fatal
• Worldwide more than 59,000 people die from rabies every year
• Over 95% of these deaths are in Africa and Asia, with the majority occurring from rabid dog bites (although dogs are not the only animal species that can present a risk)
• 40% of those bitten by suspect rabid animals are children under 15 years
• Effective and safe vaccines exist for both humans and dogs, and if given are highly protective

See the TRAVAX Rabies page for additional information on the disease.