WSAVA Nov 2021 Proceedings - Flipbook - Page 51
communities. By designing the REC course in such a way that both rabies
prevention and responsible pet ownership is discussed in detail, the
course content ensures that participants obtain a high level of knowledge
and understanding upon completing the course. Since the launch of the
REC course in February 2015, almost 10,000 individuals, originating from
128 countries, have become certified rabies educators in one of the four
languages, viz. English, French, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese. While
the number of graduates might seem insignificant compared to the global
human population living in at-risk countries, a survey of the global community of REC graduates found the reach of the certified rabies educators to
be significant. In fact, an estimated 8,58 million people have been reached
with information on rabies and responsible dog ownership through the
information provided in the REC coursework between 2015 and 2020.
The second course available on the GEP is the Community Coordinator
for Rabies Certificate (CCC). The CCC course an informative course that
provides an additional layer of proficiency to certified rabies educators.
The course enables REC graduates to become rabies champions in their
community and focuses on the following: i) building relationships with
community’s authority figures (e.g., community leaders and traditional healers) so that rabies activities can be effective and impactful, ii)
assisting with the planning and implementation of dog vaccination events
so that all of the dogs, and community members, can be protected, iii)
giving accurate advice to community members that have been exposed
to suspect animals so that they receive the correct treatment, and iv)
advocating for proper waste management to reduce free-roaming dogs
and prevent unnecessary bite cases. Since the official launch of the CCC
course in September 2016, more than 1,200 people (from 82 countries)
have graduated from the course in either English or French.
The third course available on the GEP is the Animal Handling and
Vaccination Certificate (AVC) course. The AVC is a profession-specific
course that empowers animal health professionals by providing them the
latest knowledge on the safe and humane vaccination of dogs and cats.
To this end, the AVC coursework covers the following topics in detail: i)
understanding animal behavior and how to use the knowledge to safely
approach and handle dogs and cats, ii) how to safely and effectively use
the various types of animal handling equipment, iii) how to safely and
correctly administer and record rabies vaccinations, and iv) the different
types of vaccination campaigns and special considerations that you might
encounter or plan for. Since the launch of the AVC course in December
2015, more than 2,200 people, originating from 94 countries, have graduated from the course in either English or French.
claring of freedom by 2030 fast-approaching. While considerable effort
needs to be made towards vaccinating a significant proportion of at-risk
dogs within these countries, ongoing efforts to maintain an adequate level
of knowledge of rabies and its prevention also needs to be maintained
towards reaching the elimination target. It is envisaged that a significant
cohort of qualified graduates from the free GEP courses would be exceedingly constructive as widespread disseminators of accurate, life-saving
information to members of the public in the many dog-rabies endemic
countries of the world.
References
1. Banyard AC, Horton DL, Freuling C, Müller T, Fooks AR. Control and prevention of canine rabies: The need for building laboratory-based surveillance capacity. Antiviral Res. 2013;98(3):357–64.
2. Nilsson M. Effect of rabies education programs on rabies awareness,
attitudes towards dogs and animal welfare among children in Lilongwe,
Malawi [Internet]. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; 2014. Available from: https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/6516/7/nilsson_m_140320.pdf
3. World Health Organization. WHO Expert Consultation on Rabies, third
report. WHO Technical Report Series. Geneva; 2018.
4. Katongo M, Sumbi V, Pereko D, Wambugu M. The Effectiveness of Therapeutics Committees ( TCs ) in Addressing Key Public Health Problems. In
2007. p. 2002.
5. Sanchez-Soriano C, Gibson AD, Gamble L, Jordana L, Bailey B, Mayer
D, et al. Implementation of a mass canine rabies vaccination campaign
in both rural and urban regions in southern Malawi. PLoS Negl Trop Dis.
2020;14(1):e0008004.
6. Spargo RM, Coetzer A, Makuvadze FT, Chikerema SM, Chiwerere V, Bhara E, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rabies: A survey
of the general population residing in the Harare Metropolitan Province of
Zimbabwe. PLoS One. 2021;16(1 January).
7. Rinchen S, Tenzin T, Hall D, van der Meer F, Sharma B, Dukpa K, et al.
A community-based knowledge, attitude, and practice survey on rabies
among cattle owners in selected areas of Bhutan. PLoS Negl Trop Dis.
2019;13(4):e0007305.
8. GARC. The GARC Education Platform (GEP) [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021
Sep 20]. Available from: https://rabiesalliance.org/capacity-building/gep
The fourth course available on the GEP is the Rabies Healthcare Certificate (RHC) course. The RHC is a profession-specific course that has been
developed to provide human health professionals with the latest World
Health Organization (WHO) guidelines pertaining to all aspects related to
rabies vaccination protocols, treatment, and diagnosis in human patients.
By incorporating the latest recommendations made by the WHO Strategic
Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) into the coursework,
the RHC course provides graduates with the latest and most up-to-date
information pertaining to: i) the correct administration of rabies biologics
for either pre- or post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP), ii) special
considerations for providing human PEP, iii) the management of potential
rabies exposure cases, and iv) the clinical diagnosis of suspect human
rabies cases and the importance of subsequent laboratory confirmation.
Since the launch of the RHC course in December 2018, more than 400
individuals have graduated from the course in either English or French
(representing 54 countries).
Canine-mediated rabies still poses a considerable public health threat
in more than 120 countries around the world, with the target for self-de-
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