World Rabies Day 2012

World Rabies Day is less than three months away and we are hoping that, in its sixth year, it will be more successful than ever, and spread the word about rabies prevention even further across the world.

Last year’s campaign is summarized in the most recent World Rabies Day Outcomes brochure, and brought the number of countries ever holding a WRD event to 150, the total number of people educated about rabies to 182 million people and the total number of vaccinated animals to 7.7 million!  We invite you to join us in planning an event, and have lot of free resources available to help you on the WRD website. 

A new database of downloadable images from WRD 2007-2011 can be used for any educational purposes and are perfect for media promotion. World Rabies Day logos are now available in over 40 different languages.

In collaboration with the Zach Jones Memorial Fund we have developed new posters (pictured) in english and spanish to help educate people about the risk of rabies from bats.

Our bank of educational materials continues to grow in both the breadth of resources and the number of languages available. It includes materials specifically designed for veterinarians, clinicians, humane organizations, teachers, children, healthcare workers and pet owners. A special page of resources for African countries has also been recently developed. Please feel free to use the materials, to modify them and to contribute your own to help others.

Please submit your WRD event details through the World Rabies Day website to bring global visibility to your local efforts and to help others find an event in their community. 

Additionally, the free World Rabies Day Online Webinar, will be held in two sessions on September 20th and 21st this year. The first will concentrate on presentations from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa and the second will feature talks from North America, Latin America and the Caribbean Regions. More than 200 people from 45 countries have already signed-up, so join us now by registering in advance.

Submitted by Peter Costa who manages the WRD campaign. You can contact him at Peter.Costa@worldrabiesday.org