By Jesse Ampah Owusu
Accra, July 13, GNA – Ghana has recorded 615 cases of rabies infections of people, resulting in 72 deaths from 2020 to 2023, Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health, Ghana Health Service (GHS), has said.
“The data from the DHMIS on suspected cases of rabies has shown an increase from 119 with 24 deaths in 2020 to 140 with 12 deaths in 2021, 203 with 26 deaths in 2022 and so far, 153 with 10 deaths in 2023.”
“Dog bite, which is a good proxy for rabies has also seen a similar trend with 15,296 cases in 2020, 16,364 cases in 2021, 16,644 cases in 2022 and 6,701 cases so far in 2023,” he said.
Dr Asiedu-Bekoe disclosed this at the launch of a National Rabies Prevention Campaign by the Vertinary Services Division of the GHS and its partners.
The launch was on the theme: “Prevent the Bite or Scratch! Vaccinate Your Dog! Stop Rabies Now!”
Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said the data showed the rise in cases of rabies from 2020, with majority of the cases recorded in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern and Upper East regions.
He said most of the deaths from rabies occurred in children under 15 years.
Dr Asiedu- Bekoe said Ghana had joined the global call for the elimination of dog-mediated human rabies by 2030, saying, that had led to the institution of a National Rabies Control and Prevention Action Plan 2018-2030, which provided a blueprint on how to achieve the target.
He, however, disclosed that the country’s efforts in the global action plan had been slowed and challenged by factors, including the frequent outbreaks of public health diseases, lack of sustainable funding for public health, low immunisation of dogs and the presence of stray dogs.
He said despite those challenges, the country had made gains in increasing risk communication activities, improving healthcare worker sensitisation, and undertaking a stepwise approach towards rabies elimination to help identify gaps and measures to address them.
Dr Kingsley Mickey Aryee, Registrar, Veterinary Council of Ghana, said the vaccine coverage of dogs was low, saying, only 8.5 per cent of dogs were vaccinated throughout the country.
He called for an increased sensitisation and campaign to encourage dog owners to vaccinate their dogs, especially the stray ones, yearly, to contain the spread of the disease and eradicate it totally.
Dr Aryee said rabies was one of the leading causes of preventable deaths globally with majority of the deaths occurring in developing countries.
Rabies is a viral disease that affects the neurological system of human beings, and it is commonly from bites or scratches from dogs, but it can be transmitted by other
animals like cats, bats, and foxes, especially in areas were the disease is not endemic.
Rabies presents varying symptoms such as fever, headache, excess salivation, hydrophobia, muscle spasms, paralysis and mental confusion and death.
These symptoms may start at different times depending on the location of the bite.
GNA