Global and local unite: How we’re breaking down barriers through the power of partnerships

Rabies claims over 59,000 lives every year, with children making up 40% of the victims. This is tragic. Especially when you realize that rabies is 100% preventable. Through dog vaccinations, we can protect human lives and help eliminate rabies. In our global fight against rabies, partnerships are crucial. No single organization can take on this massive challenge alone. No single community should be left alone. Thus, collaboration among global, regional, and local players is essential to reaching people in the last mile and eliminating rabies.

This is where our South African story unfolds: With the 'Learn & Earn' campaign, a collaboration between Boehringer Ingelheim, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC), and Khula Outreach, a local NGO committed to developing veterinary training programs. This initiative was born out of a surprising revelation – the need for accurate information regarding rabies prevention.

A shocking gap in rabies knowledge  

Dr. Charlotte Philip and Dr. Michelle Markram, the owners of Khula Outreach, remember well: “We were shocked by the incorrect advice doctors and nurses in Health Departments sometimes gave the public about dog bites. People were told, ‘The bite isn’t deep, no need to worry,’ or the facility didn’t stock post-exposure treatment and patients weren’t followed up with correctly.” 

They saw a need to educate the entire veterinary staff, from management to kennel assistants. These people often live in areas with limited access to veterinary services, creating a ripple effect in these underserved communities. With the problem identified, Khula Outreach decided to promote the GARC certification program to spread awareness, leverage knowledge about rabies, and develop an inclusive learning opportunity. 

Charlotte and Michelle approached GARC and Boehringer Ingelheim to see if we could collaborate on a pilot initiative to educate people about rabies in the high-risk provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.

“I know Khula Outreach well, having collaborated for several years on other rabies-related initiatives. When Charlotte presented the ‘Learn & Earn’ proposal, I knew it was perfectly aligned with our global strategy of raising awareness and education on rabies,” explains Michelle Enslin, our Regional Product Manager Pets (India, Middle East, Turkey & Africa), who elevated the collaboration to a global level.

The ‘Learn & Earn’ pilot was launched in 2024 and has been a first success: instead of the expected 200,  over 550 participants registered on the platform to gain certification. But the journey to end rabies is far from over. Plans are already being made to further roll out the 'Learn & Earn' campaign. In 2025, Khula Outreach’s goal is to educate around 47,500 schoolchildren in the high-risk areas for rabies in KwaZulu-Natal.

Looking  to the future, we share Charlotte and Michelle’s conclusion: "Educating children about how to care for their pets and safely interact with dogs is a way we empower our future generation of pet owners."

Stop Rabies – a committed program in action 

Because they lack access to vaccines and awareness programs, many underserved communities, in particular  in remote areas, still struggle to combat the threat of rabies and its lethal outcome. Through our ‘Stop Rabies’ program, we deliver high-quality vaccines and support education and surveillance initiatives in collaboration with local partners. Over the past 20 years, we have delivered over 1.5 billion doses of rabies vaccine worldwide. We’ve done this in partnership with health authorities, governments, NGOs, health professionals, pet owners and local communities.

But we cannot do this alone. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC), united with WHO, WOAH (formerly OIE) and FAO, is aiming to eliminate rabies through its ‘Zero by 30’ goal, a global strategic plan to end human deaths from dog-transmitted rabies by 2030. Last year, we signed a three-year collaboration agreement with GARC to implement dog vaccination programs to raise awareness by continuing to educate local communities, health professionals, and veterinarians all over the world to achieve this goal.

These activities were only possible through the collaboration of GARC, regional Boehringer Ingelheim resources and local communities. Together, we can shape a future where rabies is a threat of the past. Together, we can stop rabies.