Assessing Health System preparedness for dog mediated rabies in South-East Asia Region

Rabies is one of the major public health challenges in the South-East Asia Region (SEAR), which is home to diverse populations where close human-animal interactions are common, creating a conducive environment for the transmission of dog mediated rabies. The scoping review intended to assess the health system preparedness of WHO South-East Asia Region countries, for dog mediated rabies, focusing on prevention, detection, and control efforts.

The published literature was searched using PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases, focusing on studies published from January 2013 to November 2023. The inclusion criteria encompass primary studies published in English between January 2013 and November 2023 focusing on health system preparedness for prevention, control, and elimination of dog-mediated rabies in SEAR.

A total of 178 studies were reviewed. Over the years, significant improvements were seen among most SEAR countries, but countries like Myanmar and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, have limited published evidence on health system preparedness for dog-mediated rabies. Most of the countries need to focus on various aspects like vaccine availability, inter-sectoral collaboration, robust rabies surveillance and reporting system for both humans and animals, strengthening of laboratory capacity and responsible dog ownership to be in alignment with the global goal of "Zero by 30" of ending dog mediated human rabies deaths by 2030.

Each SEAR country demonstrates distinctive strengths and challenges in the elimination of rabies. However, incorporation of inter-sectoral coordination and strengthening the rabies surveillance system by linking both animal and human contribute to the control efforts in South-East Asia countries.