Progress towards the goal of eliminating rabies deaths by 2030

World Rabies Day is many things to many people – it reminds the world that people and animals are still dying of rabies, it raises awareness of organisations and individuals who are working to end these deaths and celebrates their efforts,  and it unites the global rabies community and reminds us all that no matter where we are, we are not alone in our efforts. We have an international network of potential support and experience to call upon.

Now that a global goal of elimination of rabies deaths by 2030 has been set, World Rabies Day is more relevant than ever, as it provides an annual marker to showcase progress at all levels – from the international to the community - towards every country’s rabies elimination efforts. Rabies: Zero by 30, the theme for World Rabies Day, 2017, supports these efforts.

We encourage registration of your event on our website, to share your Zero by 30 efforts with the rest of the rabies community – you can view other events and register your own. Create posters for your events with your logos and in your own language. Get ideas and checklists for your event from our event toolkit, and  add your organisation to the year-round End Rabies Now campaign to support elimination by 2030.

You can promote your efforts with themed banners and badges for your website and social media networks. Nominations are over for this year’s World Rabies Day Awards, and we’ll be announcing the shortlisted entries on World Rabies Day – thank you to everyone who has shone a light on rabies champions in their communities, we’ll be sharing some of their inspiring stories over the next few months.

If you aren’t organising an event, please support other events in your community – you can look for events in your area here, and promote their efforts online. If you use the hashtag #WorldRabiesDay and tag us (Twitter @rabiesalliance; Facebook @GlobalAllianceforRabiesControl) we'll cross-promote your posts where we can.

Working together, the goal of zero rabies deaths by 2030 can become reality – this World Rabies Day, let us all reaffirm our commitment to being part of this journey toward a rabies-free world. 

Contributed by Deepashree Balaram of the GARC World Rabies Day team