Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Vu Thuong, Deputy Director of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, concluded: "The main reason is not a shortage of vaccines or the cost of vaccination, but rather the complacency of the people."
Indeed, the cause doesn't stem from medical failure or the victim's bad luck, nor is it entirely due to the danger of the virus. Death comes from complacency and indifference. Studies have shown that over 90% of deaths are related to the belief that bites from domestic dogs or cats are harmless, or relying on folk remedies such as sucking out venom or applying leaves instead of seeking medical attention. Meanwhile, public health experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam have confirmed that 100% of cases could be saved with post-exposure prophylaxis.
Furthermore, the situation of unvaccinated, free-roaming, and unmuzzled dogs and cats remains quite common. Not long ago, a short video clip showing a pedestrian being chased by a pack of 5-7 dogs on a central street in Vung Tau ward caused considerable concern. An uncontrolled dog or cat can become a source of disease, endangering both the owner's family and the community. Sadly, some people love animals but are indifferent to the lives of those around them.
In Ho Chi Minh City, along with population growth, the number of households raising dogs and cats has also increased, reaching 172,000 households with 310,000 individual dogs and cats. This reality creates an urgent need to develop a unified rabies prevention program across Ho Chi Minh City after its merger, ensuring consistency in direction, management, and implementation of effective disease prevention and control measures.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has set specific goals for the period 2026-2030: managing over 90% of households raising dogs and cats and the number of dogs and cats raised; vaccinating over 90% of the total number of dogs and cats raised against rabies; and ensuring that 100% of the People's Committees of communes, wards, and special zones monitor dogs and cats infected with or suspected of being infected with rabies.
To realize these goals, the central solution remains to strengthen training and awareness campaigns; enhance the management of pet dogs and cats; administer vaccinations; and monitor and catch stray dogs and cats. These solutions are not new, but the key emphasis is on seriousness and decisiveness in implementation: owners are required to register with the commune-level People's Committee; allowing dogs and cats to roam freely without vaccination will result in administrative penalties; and communes and wards will organize animal control teams…
Preventing rabies is not solely the responsibility of the health sector; it requires the active participation of every citizen, every family, and every locality. Only when awareness and community consciousness are raised can rabies be sustainably controlled. It is time for us to act decisively to stop "living with" rabies. We cannot allow complacency to continue to become a tragedy.
HAI BINH
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/chu-dong-kiem-soat-benh-dai-post827177.html
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