Dear Editor, The original article published in the July 2025 edition under the title “Empowering Adolescents in Lucknow with Rabies Awareness: An Interventional Study” (Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 14 (7):2680–2687, July 2025)1 is not just insightful—it is a wake-up call for India’s rabies control efforts. The study revealed extremely poor baseline knowledge among adolescents, most were unaware of rabies, and many held harmful misconceptions like applying salt or chilli powder to wounds. After a structured intervention using lectures, wall paintings, and interactive sessions, awareness more than doubled, proving that adolescents are highly receptive when engaged appropriately.1 Rabies remains one of the most lethal infectious diseases, with a 100% case fatality rate once clinical symptoms manifest. The tragedy lies in the fact that it is entirely preventable through timely wound washing, postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and vaccination. Yet India still reports over 20,000 human rabies deaths annually, accounting for nearly one-third of the global burden. Globally, the World Health Organization has set the goal of eliminating dog-mediated human rabies by 2030, but achieving this target will be difficult unless adolescent-centered awareness strategies are mainstreamed.2 Children and adolescents account for a large share of rabies deaths, yet remain underserved; evidence from Tamil Nadu shows that school-based education can significantly improve and sustain knowledge among this high-risk group.3 Though India has made progress in strengthening its rabies control program through mass dog vaccination and PEP availability, health education for adolescents has not received due emphasis. The Ayushman Bharat School Health and Wellness Programme covers nutrition, hygiene, and substance abuse prevention, but rabies education is absent.4 Similarly, the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), which uses peer educators to spread adolescent health messages, could easily incorporate rabies prevention into its existing framework.5 Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHNDs), which convene rural communities monthly, provide another underutilized opportunity to disseminate key messages on wound care and immediate reporting after a dog bite.6 These lessons emphasize that rabies awareness campaigns should not remain sporadic. Rather, they must be institutionalized across multiple platforms, ensuring consistent recall and behavior change. Adolescents, in particular, are key change agents—they not only protect themselves but also influence their peers and families. Teaching them simple but critical steps—wash the wound immediately, inform an adult, and seek vaccination—could drastically reduce rabies mortality. The above interventions, if adopted nationwide, could accelerate India’s progress towards the WHO “Zero by 2030” target. Every nine minutes, someone in India dies of rabies,2 yet each of these deaths is preventable. Making rabies education a permanent part of school health curricula, adolescent health programs, and community outreach platforms is not merely desirable—it is imperative. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.
Kaushik et al. (Thu,) studied this question.