Vaccination drive: An
officer with the provincial livestock agency inoculates a pet dog with
an anti-rabies vaccine on Friday during the launch of the fourth stage
of the vaccination drive, which will run until July and target 350,000
dogs and other rabies carriers across the island. (BD/Agung Parameswara)The United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) presented a certificate of honor to the Bali provincial administration for its successful efforts in preventing and mitigating rabies.
The presentation of the awards by Graham Tallis from the WHO and James McGrane from the FAO in Denpasar on Friday also marked the start of the fourth stage of a mass rabies vaccination program, which will end next July.
Wayan Suasta, secretary for the administration, represented the Bali administration at the ceremony in the absence of Governor Made Mangku Pastika.
Bali Husbandry Agency head I Putu Sumantra said he was grateful Bali was able to reduce incidents of dog bites and rabies since July 2012.
“Since July 2012, Bali has seen only three cases of suspected rabies in dogs, with no human casualties recorded. Rabies cases have declined by more than 90 percent in the last three years,” Sumantra said.
The first rabies outbreak in Bali occurred in 2008 in Jimbaran fishing village. In the fourth stage of the mass vaccination, Bali will target the inoculation of 250,000 dogs out of the island’s total dog population of 350,000.
Since 2008, Bali has gone through three stages of mass vaccinations for dogs, monkeys and cats believed to be carriers of rabies.
In 2012, around 315 dogs, monkeys and cats were vaccinated. Last year, the province allocated Rp 4.5 billion (US$463,500) to the anti-rabies vaccine (VAR) and in the 2013 fiscal year will cut the fund to only Rp 2.5 billion.
The significant drop in rabies cases, along with close coordination between related agencies and the reaching out of vaccination programs, have all contributed to Bali’s success story.
Rabies cases have been jointly handled by the provincial health agency and husbandry agency. Vaccinations are being conducted in 33 rabies centers, housed in community-health centers (Puskesmas) and in Sanglah general hospital and nine regional hospitals for free.
In private hospitals and clinics, VAR is available at Rp 130,000 per injection.
Previously, Bali said it would eliminate rabies cases by 2012, but the target was revised to 2015.
“A Bali free of rabies will be achieved if we launch comprehensive and effective programs including education, prevention and mitigation of any rabies cases,” he said.
Ni Made Sukerni, coordinator of the vaccination program in Bali, said field officers found it hard to catch stray dogs. “This is one obstacle in carrying out mass vaccinations,” said Sukerni.
Field officers worked closely with village leaders and people in banjar (traditional Balinese villages) in identifying and catching the roaming dogs, she went on.
“We’ve targeted to vaccinate at least 300 dogs in every banjar within three months,” she said, adding that the dog population in Bali was spread unevenly. Denpasar and Buleleng house the largest dog population — up to 50,000 dogs in each area. The lowest dog population is in Klungkung with only 6,000 domestic dogs and stray dogs.
Sukerni said that a special team would be deployed to monitor the vaccination program in every village to ensure that all dogs were vaccinated.
Bali Health Agency head Ketut Suarjaya said the provision of VAR would be more selective based on the severity of the victim’s wounds, the location of the bite, and whether the dog inflicting the bite had already been vaccinated.
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