Rabies remains a deadly zoonosis worldwide and causes 59,000 human deaths per year, about 20,000 deaths in India. Throughout the globe, ‘World Rabies Day’ is celebrated every year on 28th September in order to spread awareness about this disease caused by bite of the rabid dog.
The Centre for One Health, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana organized a full day awareness program on ‘World Rabies Day-2021’. An awareness lecture was conducted in collaboration with Govt. Sen. Sec. Smart School PAU Ludhiana for school students.
Dr. Jasbir Singh Bedi, Director, Centre for One Health interacted with the students and introduced about the relevance of ‘World Rabies Day’ and explained why the awareness is important on this important disease.
Major Highlights
Dr. Pankaj Dhaka, Assistant Professor, Centre for One Health, delivered the lecture on Rabies emphasizing its prevention and control strategies. Dr. J.S. Bedi thanked Mr. Sanjeev Thapar, Principal and the staff for rendering their valuable support in organizing this awareness activity.
Further, a national level online colloquium on rabies was organized for students and faculty across the nation. Dr. Randhir Singh, organizing secretary of the program briefed about the importance of Rabies Day.
The guest speaker Dr. Ashish Bhalla, Professor, PGIMER delivered lecture on ‘Human Rabies: Dreaded Disease’ and Dr. Shrikrishna Isloor, Professor, KVAFSUU, delivered lecture on ‘Animal Rabies, Diagnosis and Surveillance- Essential for its control’.
Dr. Jasbir Singh Bedi, Director, Centre for One Health expressed his thanks to the participants and speakers, and emphasized that such awareness activities must be continued throughout the year. Dr. Bedi also appreciated the role of Dr. Simranpreet Kaur and Dr. Pankaj Dhaka for coordinating the event.
Dr. S.P.S Ghuman, Dean, College of Veterinary Science, mentioned that veterinarians are playing a pivotal role in the rabies awareness and control programs. Dr. Inderjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor, GADVASU, congratulated the organizers for this endeavor and hoped that such public awareness activities will result in achieving the mission ‘Elimination of Dog Mediated Rabies in India by 2030’.
