(27-09-2008) The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) called on the community to come together to discuss rabies prevention at a meeting held yesterday before World Rabies Day on Sunday.

"Rabies is a community health issue in Viet Nam, with a high death rate amongst the young," said Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan at the meeting.

The meeting aimed to improve knowledge of rabies prevention practices in the community and to eliminate the disease in the future.

At the event, the MoH called on all ministries and sectors to organise vaccination campaigns and raise awareness in the community and also to hold regular training sessions for medical workers and veterinarians.

According to Huan, Viet Nam faces challenges preventing rabies, in the first eight months of the year, 38 people died from rabies in 5 provinces - Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Gia Lai, Nghe An and Phu Tho. The main reasons for the high death rates are that people lack knowledge of rabies prevention and are unable to identify rabid animals, wild animals are also allowed free range and the rabies vaccination rate is low.

The Health Ministry said that rabies claimed 131 lives in 2007, and nearly 40 per cent of victims were children. About 500,000 people were vaccinated at immunisation stations nationwide after being bitten by dogs.
From VietNamNews