National Rabies Control and Elimination Strategy 2018-2030.

The National Rabies Control and Elimination Strategy 2018-2030 aims to eliminate human cases of dog-mediated rabies by the year 2030 in Ethiopia. The strategy provides a guide for systematic reduction of rabies risk through sustained mass dog vaccinations, pre and post-exposure prophylaxis and public education until the country is completely free of human dog-mediated rabies.
This Strategy is based on activities planned in accordance with the Stepwise Approach to Rabies Elimination (SARE) for the country to move from an endemic state to a disease free status. SARE is a stepwise progression towards becoming a rabies disease-free country, consisting of 6 stages (Stage 0 to 5), each with a set of activities that build on each other to continuously reduce the risk of disease, with the country being declared completely free of human dog-mediated rabies when it reaches Stage five.
The critical steps in the various stages include: 1. developing and adopting a national rabies elimination strategy, 2. implementation of elimination plan in pilot areas, 3. implementation of the elimination strategy throughout the country and 4. Maintaining freedom from human dog- mediated rabies and canine rabies. To move from one stage to the other, a set of targets must be reached and confirmed. The implementation of the strategy will begin with selected pilot areas to gain valuable lessons in creating and maintaining a rabies-free zone that will be used during the rollout of the elimination campaign in the rest of the country.