10 million doses vaccines procured against rabies

BANGKOK, March 22 (TNA) – The Agriculture Ministry allocated budget to procure 10 million doses of rabies vaccines for both pets and stray dogs and cats. Deputy Agriculture Minister Lak Watchananawat told the National Legislative Assembly meeting about the additional spending on the 2018 budget year to contain rabies. He said there are about 10 million dog and cat population in the country. Out of this number, about 1.1 million are stray animals. The budget was allocated for the Livestock Department to procure one million doses of vaccines for stray dogs and cats while 300 million baht was given to local authorities to buy nine million doses for vaccination of pet animals. According to the plan, ten million doses of vaccines will be sufficient to control the rabies outbreak in the country, he said. The deputy minister added that relevant agencies brainstormed long-term solutions against rabies. The rabies eradication campaign targets to be achievable in 2020 through eight strategies, including surveillance and control system in local communities, animal shelter system, rabies information management, evaluation, campaigns to educate people about the disease prevention. (TNA)