A veterinarian from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) stressed the importance of collaborations between government and private companies to address rabies in the Philippines.

During the sidelines of the World Rabies Celebration Day in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, Dr. Glenn Reyes, a Veterinarian III from the BAI Animal Health and Welfare Division, said the government cannot fight rabies alone without the help of various stakeholders.

“I think it’s of utmost important especially now na mayroon tayong (that we have a) program to eliminate yung rabies,” Reyes told DAILY TRIBUNE.

“Awareness sa mga estudyante, as well as yung collaboration ng iba’t ibang stakeholders, local government units, non-government organizations, lahat yan nagtutulong-tulong (Awareness among students is also important, as is the collaboration of stakeholders, local government units, and non-government organizations),” he added.

For rabies to be controlled and eventually eliminated, Reyes said there has to be a regular, continuous, and sustainable plan, such as mass vaccination.

“We have this aim na maging (to become) rabies-fee Philippines, so importante po yun (so it’s important). So nafo-foresee ko kung wala po yung proper na vaccination and then hindi natin naaabot yung coverage, then definitely magiging detrimental yung effect nito sa ating vaccination coverage and cases na pwedeng maitala sa humans (I foresee that if there’s no proper vaccination and we’re not reaching the set coverage, then definitely it would be detrimental to our vaccination target and to the possible human rabies cases),” he added.

As the government pushes for mass anti-rabies vaccination, Reyes assured there will be no shortage in anti-rabies vaccines, as the BAI requested for a P30 million budget to procure vaccines.

Rabies remains a critical public health issue, causing 59,000 deaths per year across 150 countries.

The zoonotic disease primarily affects marginalized, poor and rural populations with 40 percent of victims being children in Africa and Asia including the Philippines.

The spread of rabies has been escalating in the Philippines since 2023, with 169 recent human rabies cases leading to 160 deaths and a fatality rate of 94.67 percent.

Of these cases, 156 were associated with dog bites, 10 with cat bites, and three from other animals.