BBMP launches citywide awareness campaign to eliminate rabies by 2030

Bengaluru

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has launched a mass awareness campaign aimed at eradicating rabies within city limits by 2030. Special Commissioner for Health, Suralkar Vikas Kishor, flagged off the campaign at the BBMP headquarters on World Zoonoses Day.

As part of the campaign, specially equipped vehicles fitted with LED displays will tour all BBMP wards to educate the public about rabies prevention. These vehicles will also visit BBMP-run, government, and private schools and colleges to raise awareness among students.

Highlighting the significance of the initiative, Suralkar stressed that rabies is a serious zoonotic disease spread mainly through dog bites, and that public awareness and vaccination of animals are essential in preventing its transmission.

“Many diseases can be transmitted from animals to humans. With people often in close contact with dogs, it is important that animals are vaccinated regularly and that citizens are made aware of how to prevent infections,” he said. He also urged the public not to fear animals but to understand and coexist with them.

Additional Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) activities related to zoonotic diseases will also be undertaken in the coming weeks, he added.

Understanding rabies and zoonotic threats

Rabies, a fatal disease, spreads through bites, scratches, or saliva from infected animals. Although preventable through vaccination, it causes an estimated 59,000 deaths globally each year. Dogs are responsible for over 97% of human rabies cases, with children under 15 years making up nearly 40% of victims.

World Zoonoses Day, observed annually, aims to spread awareness about diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans. More than 60% of known human diseases are zoonotic, with infections spreading through air, food, water, or direct animal contact.

Major rabies control measures by BBMP

In collaboration with the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU), Charlie’s Animal Rescue Center (CARE), WVS–Mission Rabies, and other organisations, BBMP is implementing several interventions:

• Mass dog vaccination drives across the city.
• Advanced rabies surveillance systems to monitor and control outbreaks.
• Bengaluru Science & Technology Cluster, a joint initiative with the Indian Institute of Science.
• “I Am One Health” campaign, launched at the Vishweshwarayya Industrial & Technological Museum to address diseases like rabies and dengue.
• ABC (Animal Birth Control), ARV (Anti-Rabies Vaccination), and Rescue operations, targeting the stray dog population.
• 5-in-1 Combined Vaccine, protecting dogs against multiple zoonotic diseases including leptospirosis.
• Oral Anti-Rabies Vaccine for Dogs, under development at Bengaluru Veterinary College with support from the Ministry of Health, as part of the National One Health Mission.

The launch event was attended by Joint Director of the Animal Husbandry Department Dr. Chandrayya, Chief Health Officer Dr. S.S. Madani, CARE Founder Trustee Sudha Narayanan, Mission Rabies Director Dr. Balaji Chandrashekar, zonal health officers, and assistant directors from the animal husbandry department.

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