Kinshasa, April 12th, 2021 (CPA).- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has just been endowed with a plan for the elimination of rabies by 2030, following a national workshop for its elaboration which was held in Kinshasa from March 29 to April 9th, 2021. The delegate of the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the DRC, Dr Michel Boka, at the end of this meeting on Friday, declared that this UN agency appreciates the results of this workshop. He said the participants have worked hard to develop this integrated plan for the fight against rabies according to the « One health » approach in the DRC by 2030. This work was able to set up, according to the “One health” approach, a real staff and a contingent of soldiers against rabies grouped together within the multisectoral technical group for the fight against rabies. According to Dr. Boka, this group will be tasked with monitoring the implementation of this plan and actively contributing to pushing this 100% lethal or fatal disease beyond national borders. For her part, the coordinator of the “Une santé” platform, Prof. Nadège Ngombe Kabamba indicated that during this workshop the elimination mechanism was put in place, because international organizations, in particular FAO, WHO and The OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) are united and committed to support the elimination process. The fight against rabies helps strengthen the national health system, she said.
The major challenges to be taken up according to the “One health” concept
In addition, the representative of the outgoing Minister of Fisheries and Livestock, Dr. Yenta Lenora appreciated the debates and discussions during these meetings. He was able to identify the major challenges to be taken up according to the “One health” concept, in particular the lack of infrastructure for the care of rabid animals at all levels of the country’s administrative entities, the inaccessibility of vulnerable people to vaccines and anti-rabies sera and weak intersect oral collaboration in integrated bite and rabies management. The other challenges to be overcome are the exorbitant cost of post-exposure care, the poor management of the dog population involving the responsibility of dog owners and municipalities, community under reporting and the weak feedback mechanism.