National Rabies Prevention Strategy Approved by Ministry of Health

Kathmandu. The Ministry of Health and Food Hygiene has approved the National Strategy and Action Plan for Rabies Prevention (2083/84–2087/88). The strategy aims to reduce human rabies deaths from dog bites to zero by 2030.

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease in Nepal, and deaths from rabies can be completely prevented by timely vaccination, the strategy document states. In the fiscal year 2081/82, 223,510 incidents of bites from dogs and other animals capable of causing rabies were reported, with 96 percent of incidents being dog bites and 99 percent of rabies cases being caused by dog bites.