Mission Rabies Malawi in mass dog vaccination campaign
Published on April 26, 2025 at 3:14 PM by Robert Ngwira
Mission Rabies Malawi in conjunction with the Department of Animal Health and Livestock Development is set to vaccinate over 20, 000 dogs in 10 days across Blantyre City.
Mission Rabies Country Director Dr. Inga McDermott revealed this during the launch of this this year’s free dogs vaccination campaign which is scheduled to be conducted in 14 districts of the country namely; Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Phalombe Mulanje Thyolo, Chikwawa Nsanje, Mwanza, Neno, Ntcheu, Machinga, Zomba, Balaka and Mangochi.
Speaking in an interview with the press Dr. McDermott urged Malawians to take their pets to various vaccination centres.
“Dog owners can access our free rabies vaccination points at strategic locations throughout the whole city, enabling them to make sure their pets receive the required rabies protection.
“Only if at least 70% of all dogs are vaccinated, can herd immunity can be achieved and the disease can be eliminated. We urge all owners to bring their dogs forward,” said Dr. Inga.
Mission Rabies Malawi team administered 26,861 dog vaccinations and educated over 218,000 school children about rabies prevention in Blantyre City during their 2024 campaign.
Mission Rabies surveillance team is also working fulltime, following up with dog bite victims and investigating potential rabid animals and responds to all reports on the free hotline 3434 (Airtel and TNM).
In 2024 Mission Rabies vaccinated over 150,000 dogs and educated 1.3 million children across the Southern Region of Malawi.
