Photo: Collected
State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Sultan Salahuddin Tuku has said the number of rabies infections and deaths can be brought down considerably if proper measures are taken.
According to him, preventing the disease is more important than controlling it after rabies has set in. For this, the scope of the vaccination programme has to be widened, public awareness has to be built and prompt and effective treatment has to be ensured when the disease appears.
He said this while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion organised by the Department of Livestock Services on the occasion of World Rabies Day 2026 at the conference room of the Cotton Development Board in the capital on Monday (28 September).
The theme of the day this year was ‘Stronger Together: Together, even stronger, let us build a rabies-free world.’
The state minister said that although awareness of rabies is comparatively higher among city dwellers, there is little understanding of the matter at the marginal level. As a result, more deaths from the disease occur in those areas. For this reason, rabies prevention and control activities need to be strengthened in rural areas as well as in cities. To that end, an initiative will be taken to launch activities across the country as before.
He further said all activities of the government are conducted with the welfare of the people and the public interest in view. Along with food security, people are now also becoming aware of whether the animal they are consuming as food is disease-free and safe. The question of protecting human health is also directly linked to the issue of controlling animal diseases. Therefore, activities have to be carried out taking animal health and public health into consideration together.
Noting that the livestock sector is playing an important role in the country’s marginal economy, the state minister said emphasis must be placed on disease control, protection of animal health and raising the awareness of farmers and livestock farm owners in order to harness the sector’s potential. He also remarked that more seminars, publicity campaigns and field-level activities have to be undertaken to raise awareness at the marginal level. Alongside this, the supervision of officials working in the field must also be increased; only then will it be possible to achieve the desired goal in rabies prevention.
Md Rezaul Amin, executive director of the Cotton Development Board, was the special guest at the meeting, which was presided over by Md Shahjaman Khan, director general of the Department of Livestock Services. Senior officials of the department were present at the time.
Dr Md Boyzar Rahman, director (administration) of the Department of Livestock Services, delivered the welcome address at the event, and Director (Extension) Dr Begum Shamsunnahar Ahmed also spoke. The keynote papers were presented by the department’s deputy director Dr Md A Mannan Mia and Dr Mehedi Hasan Bhuiyan, director of the project to prevent the spread of rabies through stray dogs. The papers highlighted the country’s rabies situation, prevention activities, the dog vaccination programme and various initiatives taken with the aim of eliminating rabies by 2030.
Earlier, a colourful rally was brought out from the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) in the capital on the occasion of World Rabies Day. The Department of Livestock Services, the Directorate General of Health Services, various government and non-government organisations, development partner agencies, veterinarians, students and other relevant stakeholders took part in it.
