Life-saving lessons: the impact of rabies education

Our rabies prevention lessons have been delivered to over 10 million children since 2013. Thanks to our incredible supporters, we are empowering people with the knowledge to protect themselves and their loved ones from rabies.

Alongside our vaccination and surveillance programmes, education and community engagement are integral to our mission to end rabies. If the risks are widely understood and appropriate dog bite treatment is well known – rabies is 100% preventable. Many communities are not aware of the dangers of rabies, which is a key reason why people, and most often children, die from rabies. Without knowing how to behave around dogs, how to avoid being bitten or scratched, or the crucial steps to take for their life-saving treatment, these communities are constantly at risk. In rabies hotspots, these educational sessions could be the difference between life and death. 

We have established education programmes globally, with our experienced education officers delivering our sessions in schools, workplaces, and community groups. These sessions provide key information on how the rabies virus is spread, dog behaviour, and the steps to take if bitten by a dog. One of the key messages is empowering people to take action – we encourage people to report suspected rabid dogs and dog bite cases to our rabies hotlines. 

Life-saving lessons in schools

40% of reported rabies cases worldwide are children under the age of fifteen. In many of the countries we work in, the proportion of children dying is often even higher. This is why we deliver lessons directly to children in their classes and assemblies, focusing particularly on primary schools. We use an array of teaching methods tailored for each respective country and campaign including drawing, role play, flashcards, video, props and demonstration to deliver the message of rabies prevention and ensure it is memorable. Over 10 million children globally have received our rabies prevention lessons to date as we create communities who know how to protect themselves from rabies and who act to support rabies control.  

Read on to hear about how our education and surveillance programmes are protecting communities in Malawi, one of our flagship projects.

The impact of education: one lesson, many lives saved

We run our Integrated Bite Case Management (IBCM) programmes in India, Malawi and Cambodia. Our surveillance teams catch, quarantine and test dogs suspected of rabies, ensure dog bite victims know the appropriate post-exposure steps to take, and organise emergency vaccination and education campaigns in communities with a confirmed rabid dog. Through robust canine rabies surveillance programmes, we can reduce the threat of rabies.

Our surveillance team in Malawi were ready to step in when they received a call about a dog bite victim in M'deka, Blantyre. Thankfully, the child had received our rabies prevention lesson at school and knew the life-saving steps to take after a dog bite. He told his father they had to administer first aid to his wound and call our rabies hotline. His father reported the case to the IBCM team the same day.

Our team immediately travelled to the location, where they observed the dog, who was showing clinical signs of rabies. To end the suffering for the dog, the team received permission to euthanise the dog and take a rabies sample. A rapid test was done in the field, with the dog testing positive for rabies. Following this, our team completed a thorough investigation, conducting contact tracing in the area and alarmingly, discovered ten human exposures and two dog exposures. 

The team ensured that all the human exposures, all who were children under the age of 15, received the post-exposure rabies vaccinations needed to save their lives at a local clinic. If these steps had not been taken and symptoms had begun to show for any of the victims, if would have been too late to save them. Luckily, our surveillance team were called in time. For the dog exposures, one was given a rabies booster as they had previously been vaccinated during our 2024 campaign. The other dog was not vaccinated; it was recommended to the owner to keep the dog in quarantine to observe their symptoms. Our team will follow up with this dog to ensure it is not showing any rabies symptoms.  

It is cases like this which demonstrate how education programmes are fundamental for keeping children safe from rabies. From one child receiving our rabies prevention lesson and knowing the crucial steps to take after a dog bite, many lives were saved. Through his quick thinking he ensured all the human exposures received the appropriate post-exposure treatment and protected his community from this deadly disease.

We need your help to end this cruel disease

Will you donate today to ensure that we can protect children globally? With your support we can reach even more children with our life-saving education lessons. Together, we can give communities hope for a world free from rabies.