The event, which was jointly held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Health on September 28, also marked World Rabies Day 2021 (September 28).
Over the past five years, about 400 people have died from rabies across the country. This disease can be fully prevented by injecting rabies vaccine for animals and providing timely medical care for people bitten by animals.
Although rabies was better controlled in the 2017-2021 period, around 79 people die from the disease each year and more than 500,000 people are bitten by dogs and cats, resulting in preventive medical treatment costs of over VND3.8 trillion (US$166.5 million).
The cause of death from rabies is that people are not vaccinated against this disease and most of victims are living in mountainous and remote areas.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Xuan Tuyen said that rabies is still one of the deadliest infectious diseases in Vietnam, except for measles in 2014 and the current COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, with a total of 7.5 million dogs raised nationwide, the risk of rabies remains very high for the near future. Therefore, localities should pay attention to the vaccination of dogs and providing preventive treatment for people bitten by dogs or who are suspected of having rabies.
