Global Alliance for Rabies Control

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) is a non-profit organization that aims to eliminate deaths from canine rabies by 2030. Rabies is a neglected disease of poverty, which is almost 100% fatal, but can also be prevented with available vaccines. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control's work centers around the One Health Approach where vaccinating dogs (the source of up to 99% of rabies exposures to people[1]) stops the disease at its source and protects the whole community. Where the funding and political will exist, canine rabies has been eliminated. Inequality in access to preventive health care and proven control methods means that around 59,000 people, almost all in Africa and Asia, die every year.[2]

Global Alliance for Rabies Control
Founded2007
TypeInternational non-governmental organization
PurposeRabies prevention and control
HeadquartersKansas, USA
Region
Worldwide
Key people
Professor Louis Nel
Websiterabiesalliance.org

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control runs programs to address the main obstacles to eliminating rabies:a lack of coordination of human and veterinary services; low public awareness of the risks; an absence of data; and poor health system capacity. It works with governments; international organizations; veterinary, public health and educational experts; and communities to facilitate policy change and build capacity to eliminate rabies in areas hardest hit by the disease.

Organization and Aims

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control was established in 2007 as a 501(c)(3) organization in the USA. It works with a sister charity in the UK, the Alliance for Rabies Control,[3] established in 2006.

It is dedicated to eliminating rabies in both humans and animals, in support of the global goal to end deaths due to canine-transmitted rabies by 2030.[4] Its mission is to prevent human rabies deaths, and to relieve the burden of rabies in other animal populations, especially dogs.[5]

The author Alexander McCall Smith[6] is the patron of the organization.

How the Global Alliance for Rabies Control works

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control works to unite rabies stakeholders[7] to increase awareness and support for rabies elimination, build in-country capabilities to tackle the disease at the national level, educate at-risk communities to protect themselves and build the evidence base to demonstrate the benefits of eliminating rabies.

Networks and partners

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control manages an international, multi-partner communications campaign, End Rabies Now,[8] to achieve zero deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030 worldwide. Many international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), have signed up as partners on this campaign.

In 2008, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control created Partners for Rabies Prevention,[9] a network of rabies experts. Partners include the WHO, OIE, FAO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccine manufacturers and NGOs. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control acts as the secretariat for this informal group. The Partners for Rabies Prevention created the Blueprint for Rabies Control,[10] a freely available practical guide used by countries in their national planning.

In 2015, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control established the Pan-African Rabies Control Network,[11] which includes governments from 37 countries. The network unites all sub-Saharan African countries and helps them to develop and implement effective rabies elimination strategies and monitor progress towards elimination. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control supports other networks, such as ASEAN in Asia, with similar capacity building expertise.

Building the evidence base

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control works with local government partners on demonstration projects in the Philippines on mass dog vaccination, community outreach, education, diagnosis and surveillance.[12] These elements are integrated into national government programs, and the resulting data will inform policy decisions in other countries.

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control and its partners have reassessed the global burden of rabies, and are working on the costs of rabies and the benefits of individual large-scale rabies control programs. The global burden of rabies is now estimated to be 59,000 human lives every year, with annual economic losses of around 8.6 billion US dollars.[13]

Educating communities

The first World Rabies Day (WRD) was organized by the two founding partners, the Alliance for Rabies Control (ARC) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta (CDC), on 8 September 2007 with the co-sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/AMRO).[14] In 2008, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control changed the date to 28 September, as remembrance for the day of Louis Pasteur's death, for the routine recognition of WRD, an annual global day of awareness on September 28, spreading the message of rabies prevention to millions of people, in over 100 countries.[15] The Global Alliance for Rabies Control offers a series of free online courses through the GARC Education Platform[16] to provide communities and professionals with skills and knowledge to prevent rabies. Up to 60% of all rabies deaths are children. The organization's education projects reach children at school and outside the school system to teach them about rabies and dog bite prevention.

Building country capabilities

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control, working hand-in-hand with governments, experts and communities, runs in-country training workshops for human and animal health professionals to improve diagnosis, surveillance and awareness. This has included diagnostic training for government laboratories in the Philippines, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho and Indonesia, and education workshops for teachers, community health workers, and vet technicians in Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zanzibar, the Philippines, Haiti and Cambodia.

With its partners, the organization has developed tools such as the Rabies Blueprint and Stepwise Approach towards Rabies Elimination[17] to help countries develop rabies programs and monitor progress towards elimination. The Stepwise Approach was used by the Kenyan government to develop its national rabies elimination strategy,[18] and by all countries in the Pan-African Rabies Control Network[11] to determine their stage of progress and next steps needed to eliminate rabies.

Awards and nominations

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control-supported large scale rabies elimination project on the island of Bohol, Philippines, which resulted in the elimination of canine rabies on the island, was awarded the Galing Pook in 2011[19] and The Charity Award 2013 for Healthcare and Medical Research.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Rabies". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  2. Stokstad, Erik (2017-01-20). "Taming rabies". Science. 355 (6322): 238–242. doi:10.1126/science.355.6322.238. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 28104850.
  3. "Alliance for Rabies Control | Global Alliance for Rabies Control". rabiesalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  4. "EDUCATE, VACCINATE, ELIMINATE: Achieving zero human deaths from dog transmitted rabies by 2030" (PDF). World Health Organization. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  5. "About GARC | Global Alliance for Rabies Control". rabiesalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  6. "Homepage - Alexander McCall Smith". Alexander McCall Smith. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  7. Nel, LH; Taylor, LH; Balaram, D; Doyle, KAS (2017). "Global partnerships are critical to advance the control of Neglected Zoonotic Diseases: The case of the Global Alliance for Rabies Control". Acta Tropica. 165: 274–279. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.10.014. hdl:2263/58941. PMID 26519885.
  8. "End Rabies Now". End Rabies Now. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  9. Lembo, T; Attlan, M; Bourhy, H; Cleaveland, S; Costa, P; de Balogh, K; Dodet, B; Fooks, AR; Hiby, E (2011). "Renewed Global Partnerships and Redesigned Roadmaps for Rabies Prevention and Control". Veterinary Medicine International. 2011: 923149. doi:10.4061/2011/923149. PMC 3135331. PMID 21776359.
  10. "Blueprint for Rabies Prevention and Control". rabiesblueprint.org. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  11. Scott, TP; Coetzer, A; de Balogh, K; Wright, N; Nel, LH (December 2015). "The Pan-African Rabies Control Network (PARACON): A unified approach to eliminating canine rabies in Africa". Antiviral Research. 124: 93–100. doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2015.10.002. hdl:2263/52022. ISSN 1872-9096. PMID 26545712.
  12. Valenzuela, LM; Jayme, SI; Amparo, ACB; Taylor, LH; Dela Cruz, MPZ; Licuan, DA; Gamal-Bitao, R; Nel, LH (2017). "The Ilocos Norte Communities against Rabies Exposure Elimination Project in the Philippines: Epidemiological and Economic Aspects". Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 4: 54. doi:10.3389/fvets.2017.00054. ISSN 2297-1769. PMC 5402182. PMID 28484703.
  13. Hampson, K; Coudeville, L; Lembo, T; Sambo, M; Kieffer, A; Attlan, M; Barrat, J; Blanton, JD; Briggs, DJ (2015-04-16). "Estimating the Global Burden of Endemic Canine Rabies". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 9 (4): e0003709. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003709. ISSN 1935-2735. PMC 4400070. PMID 25881058.
  14. "WHO | History of the World Rabies Day, 08 September 2007". WHO. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  15. Balaram, D; Taylor, LH; Doyle, KAS; Davidson, E; Nel, LH (2016-09-28). "World Rabies Day – a decade of raising awareness". Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines. 2: 19. doi:10.1186/s40794-016-0035-8. ISSN 2055-0936. PMC 5530963. PMID 28883963.
  16. "GARC Education Platform (GEP) | Global Alliance for Rabies Control". rabiesalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  17. "The Stepwise Approach towards Rabies Elimination: a tool for planning and evaluation". caninerabiesblueprint.org. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  18. "Strategic Plan for the Elimination of Human Rabies in Kenya 2014 - 2030" (PDF). Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Zoonotic Disease Unit. September 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  19. "Pnoy confers Galing Pook Award to Bohol". The Bohol Chronicle Digital Archive. 2012-01-29. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
  20. "Bohol wins again | Global Alliance for Rabies Control". rabiesalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
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