Boehringer Ingelheim and Vétérinaires sans Frontières Germany fight rabies in Kenya 

Having recently signed an agreement to fight rabies in Kenya, particularly Machakos County, Boehringer Ingelheim and Vétérinaires sans Frontières Germany (VSF Germany) continue their successful cooperation. The partnership includes vaccination drives, community awareness initiatives, and educational programs in schools. Boehringer Ingelheim is contributing rabies vaccines and funding while VSF Germany leads the program implementation alongside local stakeholders.

The partnership is part of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Stop Rabies initiative. Stop Rabies supports Zero by 30, the global strategic plan to end human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

Partnering activities:

• Vaccine provision: To date, Boehringer Ingelheim has donated 100,000 doses of rabies vaccine to support vaccination campaigns in Machakos County for the year 2023-2024. VSF Germany plans to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the local dog population. This is an important step towards achieving the level of immunity required to break the risk of rabies transmission to humans.
• School awareness and education program: The partnership supports targeted educational programs in three schools, directly reaching around 1,300 students who will learn about rabies, its dangers, and preventive and control measures. Students act as ambassadors of rabies awareness, extending the message beyond the school environment into households and communities.
• Community awareness and education engagements: With the support of Boehringer Ingelheim, VSF Germany is leading extensive awareness campaigns. The initiatives include community meetings, the distribution of informational materials, local FM radio broadcasts and involvement of local decision-makers. This is expected to reach around 375,000 people from 75,000 households.

Stronger together

"The cooperation with Boehringer Ingelheim is an important milestone for our organization," says Christian Griebenow, CEO of Vétérinaires sans Frontières Germany. "Together, we can make strides towards preventing and controlling rabies in Kenya and raise awareness about this deadly disease. We are grateful for Boehringer Ingelheim’s generous donation and look forward to contributing our many years of experience in implementing animal health programs."

Dr. Erich Schoett, Head of Pet Therapeutics and Vaccines at Boehringer, adds: "Our partnership with VSF Germany is an essential part of our global Stop Rabies initiative which aims to fight rabies. Through our joint rabies prevention efforts, we can protect the lives of animals while improving the health and safety of the people who live in affected regions. This allows us to make a lasting contribution towards eliminating rabies."

Together we want to significantly reduce the number of human and animal rabies cases and increase awareness of prevention and control measures. In addition, we’re promoting the health and well-being of dogs through better care and prevention strategies. An improved monitoring and reporting system aims to strengthen the rabies detection and response infrastructure to tackle potential rabies cases in a timely and effective manner.

Stop Rabies: A global initiative

Rabies still kills thousands of people every year. It is endemic in more than 150 countries, and 40% of victims are children living in Asia and Africa. Rabies is 100% preventable with the right vaccination and awareness programs. Stop Rabies aims to reinforce our company’s mission of striving to improve the health of both animals and humans worldwide. We believe that, together with governmental and non-governmental organizations, health authorities, veterinarians, and people who own or care for dogs, we can achieve sustainable impacts by focusing on three pillars: vaccination, education, and surveillance.

Over the last 20 years, Boehringer has delivered more than 1.5 billion doses of rabies vaccine worldwide. In addition, the company has implemented vaccination programs for dogs in Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam in cooperation with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) and local partners. The goal of its educational and awareness initiatives is to reach one million children worldwide with information about rabies as well as safe, gentle dog handling practices every year. Initiatives are already underway in the Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam, and Ecuador. Monitoring is an important part of all actions on the ground to ensure that the desired impacts are achieved.

Boehringer Ingelheim - Animal Health business 

Boehringer Ingelheim provides innovation for preventing and treating diseases in animals. The company offers a wide range of vaccines, parasite-control products, and medicines for pets, horses, and livestock to veterinarians, animal owners, farmers, and governments. As a leader in animal health, Boehringer Ingelheim values that the health of humans and animals is deeply connected and strives to make a difference for people, animals, and society. Learn more at www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/animal-health.

Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Germany 

Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Germany is a non-profit organization that works to improve animal health and animal welfare in East Africa through humanitarian aid and development cooperation. The organization works closely with local communities to develop sustainable solutions to animal health problems and to improve the health and living conditions of people, especially to improve the living conditions of remote pastoral communities.
For more information, please visit the website https://www.vsfg.org. 

Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim is a biopharmaceutical company active in both human and animal health. As one of the industry’s top investors in Research and Development, the company focuses on developing innovative therapies in areas of high unmet medical need. Independent since its foundation in 1885, Boehringer takes a long-term perspective, embedding sustainability along the entire value chain. More than 53,500 employees serve over 130 markets to build a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable tomorrow. Learn more at www.boehringer-ingelheim.com.

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