Your Excellency Vice Minister of Health – Dr. Phouthone Meungpak
Your Excellency Vice Minister of Agriculture and Forest – Dr Bounkhuang Khambounheuang
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN Representative to Lao PDR – Mr Nasar Hayat
Distinguished colleagues, Ladies & Gentlemen,
Between 2012 and 2017, 29 people in Lao PDR died after having been bitten by dogs. Many of them were children. They died of a disease called rabies. This is caused by a virus that mostly infects animals, but which can infect humans.
My message to you all, on behalf of the World Health Organization, is that no-one in Lao PDR – or anywhere else – should die of rabies. Rabies is a preventable disease.
There are two simple things we can all do to stop ourselves getting rabies:
- Be careful around dogs – especially those you don’t know – so you don’t get bitten; and
- If you do get bitten by a dog:
- wash and disinfect the wound immediately; then
- go immediately to the nearest health centre or hospital to get treatment
There is a human vaccine against rabies. You may need several injections with this vaccine. But it will save your life.
If you are a dog owner there is something more you can and should do. It will protect your dog, it will protect your family and everyone in your community. Get your dog vaccinated against rabies.
WHO is confident that, taken together, these three strategies can achieve zero rabies deaths from dog bites by 2030. This is a goal WHO has committed to, along with our international partners and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control.
If we can eliminate rabies deaths due to dog bites, we will be very near to stopping all rabies deaths. 99% of all human cases of rabies are linked to dog bites.
In Lao PDR, we all have an important role to play in achieving zero rabies deaths. We are one of seven countries in the Western Pacific Region that is identified as high risk for rabies. The other six are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Philippines and Vietnam.
Let’s all play our role and protect people here from rabies. Thank you.