20,000 rabies deaths in India a year, most preventable with vaccines

Jawed Zia, CEO of Cadila Pharma, says lack of public awareness and the resultant failure to complete the vaccine regimen are key causes behind rabies deaths.

Ahmedabad, 29^th September 2022:  With more than 20,000 deaths each year, India is one of the worst-affected countries by rabies but almost all of these deaths can be prevented with rabies vaccines, according to experts.

Rabies is one of the most common diseases in India with an estimated 1.7 crore dog bites in a year, as per Association of Prevention and Control of Rabies in India (APCRI) data. The large stray dog population and limited success in control methods such as mass dog vaccination and animal birth control are among the reasons for the high number of animal bite and rabies cases in India.

There is also a clear gap in terms of affordability and accessibility of post-exposure treatment, rabies awareness, and risk of exposure to rabid dogs. The deaths are more than 10 times higher in rural areas as compared with urban areas. Around 40% of the animal bite victims are children under the age of 15.

“Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease that causes 59,000 human deaths globally of which more than a third or around 20,000 deaths occur in India. Almost all of these deaths can be prevented with safe and efficacious rabies vaccines, but somehow the efforts have fallen short so far. We have recently introduced ThRabis, the world’s first three-dose rabies vaccine, which has a simpler and more convenient regime, to contribute to preventing thousands of rabies deaths,” said Jawed Zia, CEO of Cadila Pharmaceuticals.

A large number of rabies deaths are attributable to a lack of public awareness about the disease and the resultant failure to undergo the full rabies vaccination regime. The World Health Organization (WHO) and other major health organisations observe September 28 as World Rabies Day to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight the progress in defeating the horrifying disease. The theme for this year rabies day is  “One Health, Zero Death”.  The occasion also brings together partners to enhance prevention and control efforts worldwide.

“One of the challenges in preventing rabies deaths until recently was that animal bite victims needed to get five doses of the rabies vaccine spread over 28 days. Many victims did not complete the full course of the vaccine due to the potential loss of income associated with frequent hospital visits, leaving them unprotected and susceptible to developing rabies. ThRabis being a three-dose vaccine addresses this challenge to a great extent and is proving to be a game-changer in helping in saving many lives,” said Mr. Zia.