Animal Welfare Coalition urges WHO to intervene in Sri Lanka’s rabies eradication efforts

Colombo, August 25 (Daily Mirror) - The Animal Welfare Coalition – Sri Lanka (AWC) has written to the World Health Organization (WHO), warning that the country’s rabies eradication programme is at risk due to the exclusion of the Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH) from national planning.

In a letter addressed to the WHO Director-General on August 20, the AWC stated that Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health has failed in rabies eradication for more than seven decades, citing poor vaccination coverage and the suspension of the National Dog Sterilization Programme in 2025 despite budget allocations.

The coalition stressed that the DAPH, which operates with more than 700 veterinarians across the island, is the legally mandated body to manage animal health and zoonotic diseases under the Animal Diseases Act No. 55 of 1992. Excluding its Director-General from national policy decisions, the AWC said, is “irrational, irresponsible, and will inevitably lead to a public health crisis.”

The AWC urged WHO to recognize the central role of the DAPH in rabies eradication under the One Health concept, emphasizing that dog population management through sterilization and vaccination must be handled by veterinary professionals. It also called on the government to release unused funds allocated for sterilization programs to prevent what it described as an “intentionally promoted” rabies crisis.

Copies of the letter have been sent to the President, Prime Minister, Ministers of Health and Agriculture, and the WHO Representative to Sri Lanka.