A week-long Mass Dog Vaccination (MDV) in the two city corporations will begin from May 14 as part of the country's move to eliminate rabies by 2022. Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the programme at Krishibid Institute yesterday.

The two city corporations will conduct the programme with assistance of Health and Family Welfare Ministry's Zoonotic Disease Control Programme Communicable Diseases Control (CDC) unit, World Health Organisation and Food and Agriculture Organisation. Dr Abul Kalam Azad, director general of Directorate General of Health Service, presided over the programme while Dr Sania Tahmina presented the keynote paper on ‘Rabies Elimination in Bangladesh: Achievements and Way Forward’.

Tahmina said that before 2010, more than 2,000 rabies-related deaths were estimated to have occurred in the country. In more than 95 per cent cases, dogs were found to be the single most important cause of transmitting rabies followed by cat, jackal etc.

MDV's goal is completion of at least three rounds MDV throughout the country by 2022 for achieving elimination of rabies by the estimated time.