MKCG students stage street play to create awareness about rabies | Bhubaneswar News – The Times of India

Berhampur: Students of the community medicine department in MKCG Medical College and Hospital here organised a street play at Aruapalli near here and created awareness at the OPD to mark World Rabies Day on Sunday.“Students staged a street play and created awareness about rabies prevention, treatment and control,” said Durga Madhab Satapathy, superintendent of MKCG and professor of the community medicine department.“As the govt has targeted to eliminate rabies by 2023, creating awareness is essential to achieve the goal,” said Satapathy, who is also president of the Association for Prevention and Control of Rabies in India.“The theme this year is, ‘Act Now: You, Me & Community’, which highlights action and collaborative efforts by individuals, community and health sector,” he said.Satapathy said rabies is a deadly but preventable disease. “Around 95% of rabies cases are caused due to dog bites,” he added.In five years (2020-24), 47,708 people with rabies have been admitted to the anti-rabies clinic in MKCG. Last year, 8,022 rabies patients were treated in the clinic, sources said.In Ganjam, a total of 8,618 people were treated in different hospitals in 2024 after being bitten by the dogs. Till Aug this year, 15,054 dog bite cases were reported in the district, sources said.“Implementation of the animal birth control (ABC) programme is urgently needed to eliminate rabies. Supreme Court’s directive for states to create policies on street dogs that prioritise sterilization and immunisation over confinement needs to be implemented,” said Lalatendu Choudhury, an animal rights activist.