The following ISNTD note should have been included in PGH Volume 107 Number 7.
ISNTD Note
Kamran Rafiq
Communications Director, ISNTD
http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/2047772413Z.000000000172
Rabies, as is the case with most Neglected Tropical Diseases, is synonymous with inadequate access to basic healthcare and sanitation - truly a disease of poverty.
Figures from the Canine Rabies Blueprint project estimate 50,000–55,000 people dying from rabies worldwide each year - this equates to 150 deaths a day from rabies with 40% of these being children.
The impact from trauma, hospitalization and loss of livestock to the affected communities simply serves to exacerbate the poverty cycle - the health burden is immense with over 3 billion people continuing to be at risk of rabies virus infection in over 100 countries in the 21st century.
The International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases (ISNTD) fully espouses a multidisciplinary approach to NTDs and diseases of poverty in terms of resource capacity building - in the case of Rabies we feel it is important to connect together not only virologists working on Rabies but just as importantly veterinary scientists, ecologists, policy makers and diagnostics professionals as a small example of the diverse range of science needed to eliminate this in line with the post-MDG agenda.
As part of our commitment to furthering Rabies advocacy and sustaining the momentum in terms of keeping Rabies firmly on the policy agenda, we hope that the articles and topics in this special edition help to drive Rabies education and awareness, strengthen research in animal and human vaccination and therapeutics, and encourage systematic community surveillance as we believe that these are part of the essential strategies needed for the prevention and elimination of Rabies.