THE Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) has sounded the alarm over a possible spike in the country’s rabies cases this year or the next as the government suffers from a shortage in animal and human rabies vaccines.
Department of Agriculture-BAI Rabies Focal Person Joy O. Lagayan said the cut in the agency’s budget for the year resulted in the minimal supply of rabies vaccines.
At present, the government has only about 1 million anti-rabies vaccines—sufficient to cover just 11 percent of the total estimated 9 million dog population nationwide, Lagayan explained.
Furthermore, Lagayan noted that the Department of Health (DOH) is also experiencing lack of supply in terms of rabies vaccine for humans due to a global supply shortage.
News reports indicated that the DOH’s rabies vaccine supply this year declined by half from last year.
Lagayan said BAI was given P15 million last year for the procurement of vaccines, enough to purchase roughly 1 million vaccines.
For this year, that budget was cut by almost half, or P8 million, which, Lagayan said, is equivalent to about 400,000 vaccines.
“What we are concerned about is that the rabies cases for both animals and humans could increase this year or by next year,” she told the BusinessMirror.
Lagayan said they are banking on President Duterte’s pronouncement that the DA would be given a budget over 10 times of its present funding to receive an increased allocation for BAI’s rabies program. For next year, BAI proposed about P160 million for its rabies program, which, Lagayan noted, would be more than enough to purchase the vaccine demand to cover the country’s estimated total dog population.
“The reality is we have to control virus at the source, which are the animals. That’s why dog vaccination is so important and is our main concern this year,” Lagayan said. Lagayan said they are appealing to Filipinos to be responsible pet owners by ensuring their dogs and cats are properly vaccinated.
She pointed out how costly it could be if someone would be bitten by an unvaccinated dog, as government-run bite centers may just refer them to private clinics or hospitals for vaccination. A rabies vaccine costs around P4,000 to P5,000, according to Lagayan.
“If you have a pet dog or cat, be responsible enough to have them vaccinated every year. If the dogs are vaccinated then they are complacent that they are safe,” she said. “If you have a pet dog, it is your responsibility to take care of its health and welfare.”
The Philippines is among the top countries with rabies problems in the world with reported deaths of about 200 to 300 Filipinos annually, according to the World Health Organization.