High rabies incidence due to lack of funds
Lack of funds and the inconsistent implementation of the rabies control program of the city government contributed to the high incidence of rabies cases here.
City Councilor Erwin Plagata, chair of the committee on health of the Sangguniang Panglungsod, said the inconsistent completion of the program and lack of enough funds for the procurement of the anti-rabies vaccines triggered the high incidence of rabies cases.
Plagata said there are already “good pieces” of legislation when it comes to rabies control program. He said as early as 2002, a legislation was passed by the legislative body which paved way in defining the rabies control program of the city.
Plagata said the lack of funds hindered the City Veterinary Office from achieving the number of dogs to be vaccinated.
In 2009, the City Veterinarian Office has vaccinated 11,723 dogs for free. In the same year, Iloilo City has 39 positive rabies cases.
Iloilo City Rabies Coordinator Dr. Maila Gutierrez-Buyco said rabies is obtained from animal bites and human rabies. Rabies continues to be a public health problem in the country. Most of the rabies cases in the city are attributed to animal bites such as dogs and cats.
From 2008 up to the present, there is no recorded human rabies case in Iloilo City. Males dominated the animal bite patients reaching to 55.94 percent. While, the 44.06 percent are female bite patients.
