Animal health is often ignored, but indispensable to the human right to health

Abstract

Although preventable by vaccines, approximately 60'000 humans die due to canine transmitted rabies annually, mostly in Africa and Asia. The aim of this paper is to advocate for including animal health aspects into considerations of human health and human rights, and for equitable access to rabies vaccination for both animals and humans. An infringement of human - in particular of children's - right to health will be illustrated with the case of rabies and poor dog management in Uganda.

Keywords: Dogs; Mass vaccination; One health; Rabies; Responsible dog ownership.