Bhutan has made major progress in its fight against rabies. The country has now received global recognition for eliminating dog-mediated human rabies as a public health problem. But the country is not taking its success for granted. The third phase of Nationwide Accelerated Dog Population Management and Rabies Control Programme was launched in Thimphu today. The focus now is on keeping Bhutan rabies-free and managing the dog population safely and humanely.
The new phase, which will run until June next year, will build on the work carried out over the past four years. One of its main goals is to maintain 100 per cent sterilisation of free-roaming dogs.
“The main objectives are to keep the mission to sterilise 100 per cent of stray dogs, attach microchips to sterilised dogs and to achieve zero human rabies cases by 2030,” said Dr Kinley Dorji, Team Leader, NADPM & RCP 3.0.
The programme will continue mass anti-rabies vaccination and strengthen disease surveillance. It will also put greater focus on responsible pet ownership.
“Pet owners have the responsibility of taking care of their pet dog; pet dogs are not supposed to roam freely without the owner’s supervision. Pet owners have to leash their dog if they go outside in order to prevent harm or injury to other people. And yearly dog vaccinations and registration have to be practised,” added Dr Kinley Dorji.
As of June this year, around 72,000 dogs have been sterilised, according to the data maintained by the programme. About 12 per cent of them were pet dogs.
The third phase will look beyond dog numbers. Officials will study the impact of the previous phases on animals, the environment and communities. The findings will help improve future programmes.
Bhutan’s fight against rabies has been ongoing since the 1970s. A major change came in 2022 when the nationwide programme was launched in 2022 under the Royal Command. The programme brought together livestock and health officials, local governments, De-suups and communities.
Officials say maintaining the achievement will require continued vaccination and sterilisation, strong surveillance and active participation from communities.
Pelden Wangchuk
Edited by Sonam Pem
