A series of orientation and training sessions aimed at strengthening the capacity of healthcare workers on rabies prophylaxis and snakebite envenoming management in Nepal were conducted by the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), and in close collaboration with WHO, Country Office for Nepal.
Altogether over 100 healthcare workers benefitted from trainings on rabies prophylaxis conducted between August to November this year. Participants were from one national referral hospital (Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital), and medical doctors, medical superintendents, paramedics, nurses, and officers from nine major hospitals across seven provinces. The main focus of these trainings were timely and proper administration of post-exposure prophylaxis after dog and other rabid animal bites to prevent human deaths from rabies. Proper wound washing, rabies vaccine, and rabies immunoglobulin whenever indicated are the three key components of post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies prevention.
A glimpse from a training to strengthen the capacity on the management of zoonotic neglected tropical diseases in Nepal.
“Rabies immunoglobulin services which were mainly available at the national-level hospitals will be now be scaled up across all the provinces after this training,” said Dr Krishna Paudel, Director of EDCD, MoHP, Nepal. “Nepal will continue its efforts to reduce morbidity and mortality from these fatal yet neglected tropical diseases which claim many lives every year.”
A glimpse from the program - Orientation on Scaling Up Rabies Immunoglobulin Services at the Provincial Level in Nepal.
Likewise, 80 participants from Bir Hospital were provided a two-day training on snakebite management in Nepal. The participants were mainly from the emergency and medicine department of the national referral hospital who are the frontline workers managing snakebite envenoming cases. The interactive training sessions were facilitated by national experts like Professor Sanjib Kumar Sharma.
Rabies and snakebite envenoming are among the list of 20 diseases identified by WHO as Neglected Tropical Diseases. Snakebite envenoming is a potentially life-threatening medical emergency and mainly affects women, children, and farmers with lower socio-economic status in rural Nepal. Likewise, rabies, a fatal vaccine-preventable viral zoonotic disease which is close to 100 percent preventable with timely post-exposure prophylaxis, is endemic in Nepal. An estimated 100 deaths occur each year due to rabies in the country. Rabies has also been listed as one of the prioritized zoonotic diseases in Nepal in 2021.
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Close-ups of needles with human rabies vaccinations.
WHO, Country Office for Nepal, has been working to support the national zoonotic control and elimination program in Nepal. In 2019, the EDCD, with technical and financial support from WHO, had developed its National Guidelines on Rabies Prophylaxis and Snakebite Management in Nepal. The trainings conducted are part of this support.
“Capacity strengthening on rabies prophylaxis and snakebite management is crucial to reducing mortality and morbidity associated with these diseases. This is why we are supporting the national zoonotic control and elimination program in Nepal for capacity building of health workers across the country,” said Dr Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav, WHO Representative to Nepal.