Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – A meeting was held in Hanoi’s outskirts district of Ba Vi on September 24 in response to World Rabies Day (September 28).

Addressing the event, Deputy Director of the municipal Health Department Nguyen Van Dung said rabies may increase due to low public awareness of the disease.

He called on all-level Party Committees and authorities and the whole community to join hands in the combat.

The capital city reported five deaths caused by rabies in 2014, one in 2015 and two in the first six months of this year in Hoai Duc and Ba Vi districts. All of them were not vaccinated or vaccinated late.

Rabies remains a major concern worldwide, killing more than 55,000 people every year.

Launched in 2007, World Rabies Day presents an opportune occasion to remind everyone of the impact of the rabies virus on wildlife, domestic animals and humans, as well as the importance of being cognizant of the dangers.

Since the beginning of this year, rabies has claimed 49 lives in Vietnam, higher than that of the same period last year.

Vietnam is striving to become one of the leading ASEAN countries in completely eliminating rabies by 2020.-VNA
VNA