TACLOBAN CITY – Despite the delay in the release of fund and in the launching of a foreign funded anti-rabies special project in the region, there was a significant decrease in rabies cases during the first half of this year, health and agriculture authorities reported.
Last year, the region had 17 human rabies cases, broken down into 4 cases in Samar, 3 in Northern Samar, 2 in Eastern Samar, 6 in Leyte, and 2 in Southern Leyte.
But during the first half of this year, the number of human rabies cases had dropped to only four.
“We have a big decrease in rabies cases, I hope we can sustain this until December,” Dr. Noriette Orsoa, focal person on rabies of the Department of Agriculture regional office, said in a recent interview.
Dr. Orsoa disclosed that aside from the DA’s regular anti-rabies program, a special rabies project is also being implemented in the region this year, the five-year Bill & Melinda Gates project for rabies free Visayas, which is being implemented by the Department of Health in the three Visayas regions, Region 6, Region 7 and Region 8 or Eastern Visayas.
Already, the Eastern Visayas has received recently the initial tranche of P2.1 million for the anti-rabies campaign donated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the World Health Organization, as part of the P10 million allocated for the region, spread in five years.
Orsoa, however, said that the delay in the release of funds for the project and because of the recent elections, the project implementation was delayed.
“Supposed to be the program should have been started last year, but because of the delay in the release of fund and also because of the elections last May the implementation was delayed,”  Orsoa said.
She said that it was decided in a recent meeting of stakeholders that the formal launching of the special rabies project would be on September 28, to coincide with the World’s Rabies Day.
But this does not mean that they would wait for the launching to start doing their anti-rabies efforts.
Orsoa said that just last week, they were at Eastern Samar with her counterpart in the DOH, to conduct pre-exposure treatment to school children, by giving them vaccination to prevent rabies in case they would be bitten by dogs.
For her part, as implementor of the regular rabies program of DA, Orsoa said they are monitoring areas found to be positive with rabies.
They have also been campaigning for the enforcement of the National Rabies Law or RA 9482, which mandates for the establishment of dog pounds and anti-rabies mass vaccination, she said.
Orsoa also appealed to the people to be responsible pet owners. She said that pet owners should care for their animals, like having regular vaccination, giving them proper food and shelter, and that the dogs should be on leash every time they go out of the house.
They should also pay the fine of P500 for the release of their pets that were caught and placed in a dog pound and to pay for the victim’s expenses if their animal has bitten someone.
Rabies is a highly fatal disease transmitted among animals and from animals to human via the excretion of rabies virus through the saliva and penetration of infected saliva into broken skin or mucosa affecting the nervous system. Many had already died of the disease.
Meanwhile, Dr. Antonio “Non” Cinco, city veterinarian of Catbalogan, lamented that many people are still not responsive to their rabies education campaign, like undergoing immediate vaccination if bitten by a dog and taking good care of their pets.
Dr. Cinco disclosed that one of the two rabies fatalities in two barangays outside the city proper of Catbalogan early this year had refused vaccination after being bitten by a dog while the other only took two of the needed five injections for dog bites.
“People are really not receptive to our education campaign. They just don’t care and they only panic when they’ve known that somebody in or near their place had died of rabies,” he said.
Cinco also bewailed that due to lack of funds they could not implement some of their projects like expanding their dog pound to accommodate other stray dogs. “This is because the city is still operating under its budget as a town,” he explained. (VEN LABRO)