Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has flagged off the Year 2020 free anti-rabies vaccination campaign for 3 months old and above dogs and cats in the State.
The free vaccination, which was collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, under the World Bank-sponsored Regional Diseases Surveillance System Enhancement (REDISSE) project and the government of Ekiti State, would be carried out in all the 16 Local Government Areas of the state.
In his keynote address, the governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon Folorunso Olabode, described rabies as one of the deadliest viral infectious diseases on earth, which was prevalent in Africa and Asia.
The governor who posited that over 59,000 people across the globe died each year as a result of rabies, with about 150 deaths daily in Africa and Asia.
Dr. Fayemi stressed that the disease is confirmed in Nigeria and Ekiti state, with about 10 reported cases of the infection in some parts of the state in 2005 and 2006.
He said that the failure of the people to report the cases of dog bites and rabies infection early in the past has led to the untimely death of many innocent citizens, calling on Ekiti people to avail themselves the opportunity to vaccinate their dogs and cats at no cost during this vaccination campaign period.
Dr.Fayemi reiterated that his first administration approved and released the sum of four hundred and forty-five thousand naira for the purchase of vaccine for the control of rabies and canine distemper in the State.
The Governor said that the Veterinary Services arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has been saddled with the responsibility of controlling zoonotic diseases in animals through surveillance, vaccination, diagnosis, inspection, prevention, and treatment in the State.
He commended the World Bank REDISSE project in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for considering Ekiti State as a beneficiary of the free anti-rabies vaccination.
He charged all dogs and pets owners and breeders to bring their animals to all the designated Veterinary Hospitals across the state for a free vaccination.
In her comments, the Epidemiology and Senior Veterinary Officer of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, who is also the officer in charge of REDISSE in Nigeria, Dr. Ibukun Akinola said that the project was instituted by World Bank to improve the capacity of the third world countries in detecting, preventing and responding to diseases outbreak.
Dr. Akinola stressed that the World Bank was committed to assisting nations to get over avoidable deadly diseases by providing vaccines and other tools for ease of vaccination in rural and urban centres in Nigeria.
She called on the people of the State to embrace the opportunity to freely vaccinate their dogs and cats for a healthy and rabies-free living.
Some of the equipment donated to the state included three units of tricycle, three units of motorcycle, and some other items for ease of reaching the people in rural areas during the vaccination exercise.
Last modified: June 29, 2020
