MAKATI City Mayor Abigail Binay urged pet owners to have their animals vaccinated for rabies following reports on the shortage of human anti-rabies vaccines in the country.
“Apart from the expensive cost of human anti-rabies vaccines, the shortage could translate to fatalities if patients do not receive immediate treatment. The only thing we can do right now is to prevent rabies in humans by making sure that our pets are vaccinated,” Binay said over the weekend.
She added the lack of human rabies vaccines is alarming since the fatality rate is 100 percent. The mayor is appealing to all Makati residents to take advantage of the city’s anti-rabies program and have pets vaccinated for free at the soonest time possible. The Department of Health recently confirmed the global shortage of human rabies vaccines. Last Tuesday Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III announced that the DOH will intensify its anti-rabies vaccination program for dogs in response to the problem. He also encouraged local government units to step up their dog anti-rabies immunization campaigns and promote responsible pet ownership.
Rabies eradication is one of the key programs of Binay’s administration. There are roughly 32,000 cats and dogs registered in the city’s database. The city runs a year-round pet immunization program and also launched a pet microchipping project in October 2017. The pet microchips help pet owners avoid the cost of redundant rabies vaccinations. Each microchip contains a unique 15-digit code readable with a microchip scanner, and gives veterinarians access to a pet’s vaccination records for them to determine whether or not a pet needs to be given anti-rabies shots after biting a human, and if there is a need for the bite victim to be vaccinated against rabies.
She also directed Makati Veterinary Services Office (VSO) Chief Dr. Katherina Mangahas to drum up public awareness on rabies prevention.
The VSO is currently conducting house-to-house vaccination campaigns in Barangays Comembo, Santa Cruz and San Isidro. The program will continue until all pets in the said areas have been injected with the vaccine.