Mass Vaccination
The state government, Mission Rabies in the United Kingdom, and the University of Edinburgh have collaborated on research into how mass dog vaccination can eradicate rabies in humans. The Mission approach can be economically scaled up across India, potentially saving millions of lives in the future.
The researchers employed cutting-edge smartphone technology to collect massive amounts of spatial data on stray dogs during the course of a seven-year dog vaccination campaign that saw Goa become India’s first rabies-free state.
Dog vaccination is an effective prevention measure, but mass vaccination campaigns are difficult to implement in places like India, where there are vast numbers of free-roaming dogs. This initiative made use of smartphone technology to allow for the systematic geographical direction of remote teams to vaccine over 95000 canines with a 70 percent vaccination coverage and rabies education teams to reach 150000 children each year.
“In terms of campaign coordination and monitoring, our custom-built app was a game-changer. The remote vaccination workforce may be controlled with remarkable spatial precision, allowing the virus to be eradicated in dogs and people more effectively, “Dr. Andy Gibson, Director of Strategic Research at Mission Rabies and Lead Author, said.
