Mission Rabies, a non-governmental organisation, will roll out a vaccination campaign in Zomba District from this month which is expected to see at least 70 percent of the dogs getting inoculated.
The campaign aims at reducing risks of rabies in the district and saving costs of buying expensive anti-rabies vaccine.
Speaking during a District Executive Committee (DEC) meeting on Monday, Mission Rabies Programme Manager for Zomba, Mayeso Kujambo, said every year the organisation runs a rabies vaccination campaign targeting over 90 percent of all the dogs.
Kujambo said unlike other years, last year was the worst as many people did not bring their dogs for vaccination due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We intend to start the actual vaccination on June 26, this year but we will be, for the meantime, conducting awareness meetings with several stakeholders to ensure that the campaign is a success and Mission Rabies’ interest is to see Malawians [be] protected from rabies which is deadly and expensive to cure,” said Kujambo.
According to the Rabies Programme Manager, the campaign targets all dogs in the district and therefore, he encouraged all residents to bring their dogs for the vaccine which he said would be administered for free.