News Highlights:
- The Central Government has launched the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) for the prevention and control of Rabies.
- The programme is under the ambit of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP)
- Strategies:
- To prevent and control rabies, the Central Government has started the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP). According to National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) information, the program’s strategies are as follows:
- Rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin are provided through national free drug programmes.
- Training on rabies prevention and control, surveillance, intersectoral coordination, and proper animal bite management.
- Strengthening surveillance of animal bites and rabies death reporting.
- Creating awareness about rabies prevention.
- Objectives of NRCP:
- Healthcare workers should receive training on proper animal bite management and rabies post-exposure prevention.
- Advocacy for states to adopt and practice the intradermal method of post-exposure treatment for victims of animal bites and pre-exposure prophylaxis for high-risk groups.
- Strengthening the system for monitoring human rabies.
- Improvement of Regional Labs Under NRCP for Rabies Diagnosis.
- Advocacy, communication, and social mobilisation are used to raise awareness in the neighbourhood.
What are Rabies?
- About:
- Rabies is a viral disease that is spread through an animal bite such as a dog. It is caused by the infection of the rabies virus.
- The infection caused by this leads to encephalomyelitis, i.e. the inflammation of the brain as well as the spinal cord.
- The transmission of the virus happens through the saliva and affects the CNS or Central nervous system.
- This virus belongs to a family called Rhabdoviridae.
- Carriers:
- Any mammal can get rabies. The most common wild reservoirs of rabies are raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes.
- Domestic mammals can also get rabies. Cats, cattle, and dogs are rabid domestic animals most frequently reported.
- Transmission:
- The dog affected by rabies transmits the disease to the human through saliva.
- This virus enters the human body’s tissues and starts to multiply. The transmission of disease sometimes might even happen from animal to animal also.
- After it has affected the tissues, the virus travels to the central nervous system through the spinal cord.
- Then it reaches the brain and causes a serious brain disorder called encephalitis which in turn causes a number of symptoms to arise in the human body.
- There are chances of it causing the death of the person.
- The disease has an incubation period of about 3-12 weeks; later, it progresses with various symptoms.
- Symptoms Of Rabies:
- Fever, Headache, Nausea, Vomiting
- Anxiety, Confusion, Hyperactivity, Hallucinations, Insomnia
- Difficulty swallowing
- Excessive salivation
- Partial paralysis
- Fear brought on by attempts to drink fluids because of difficulty swallowing water, etc.
Initiatives to control rabies:
- Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Regulations, 2023:
- To limit the dog population, the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Regulations, 2023 have been proposed by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to the appropriate authorities.
- The main emphasis of the regulations is on stray dog anti-rabies vaccination and stray dog sterilisation as population control measures.
- It can reduce the transmission of rabies.
- National Action Plan For Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE):
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Ministry of Fisheries Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India jointly launched ‘National Action Plan For Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE) from India by 2030’.
- It is a holistic approach to health, keeping in mind human-animal interaction and their broader interaction with the environment can help alleviate such challenges.
- Local bodies’ awareness programme
- The local bodies are responsible for managing and controlling the stray dog population.
- communication and social mobilisation are used to raise awareness in the local areas.
Pic Courtesy: Freepik
Content Source: PIB