THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) on Tuesday urged the state government to launch a universal pre-exposure rabies vaccination programme, especially for children and other high-risk groups.

This comes as rabies-related deaths in the state continue to pose a serious public health concern.

Noting that Kerala has made strong progress in recent years through mass dog vaccination, public awareness campaigns, and easy access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), the association stated that it is time to move from reacting to rabies cases to preventing them entirely.

In a statement issued a day after seven-year-old Niya Faisal succumbed to a rabies infection despite receiving vaccination, it highlighted that rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.

Globally, around 59,000 people die from the disease every year, with India accounting for 18,000 to 20,000 of those deaths.

Children make up nearly 40 per cent of the victims, and in Kerala, about 20–25 people still die from rabies each year, the association said.

The association noted that the World Health Organisation recommends a simple three-dose intradermal vaccination (on days 0, 7, and 21/28) for pre-exposure protection.