Educate Vaccinate Eliminate Guidance manual for World Rabies Day 2016
Educate Vaccinate Eliminate ●
World Rabies Day is on September 28th
This year the IVSA and IFMSA are partnering again to encourage students to do something to help prevent rabies! How can you make a difference? Organise a World Rabies Day event – we have lots of ideas in this guide! Get your colleagues in the health sector involved! And as a bonus – your event could be selected for the IVSA or IFMSA’s activities’fair For more information: Contact: IFMSA scophd@ifmsa.org or IVSA publichealth@ivsa.org
59,000 people and millions of animals die because of rabies every year – these deaths are totally preventable.
Help to save lives by being part of World Rabies Day!
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1. Message from IVSAand IFMSA
Contents
2. Rabies – the facts 3. World Rabies Day a. History of World Rabies Day b. WHO Global Conference on Rabies, Nov. 2015 c. World Rabies Day 2016 - #EndRabies Together d. Medical and veterinary students and World Rabies Day e. Why students should take the lead 4. Participating in World Rabies Day a. Step by step b. Setting up your event c. Ideas for World Rabies Day activities d. Sharing your activities Appendices 1. Relevant links 2. Event checklist 3. How to handle the media 4. Using social media
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Message from IVSA and IFMSA
Rabies is a global health issue with remarkable history. More than 90% of all animal rabies cases reported in the wildlife when 40 years ago it was related to domestic animals only.1 It is considered being a life threating disease especially in rural. We, IVSA (International Veterinary Student’s Association) and IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Students’ Association) recognize this threat and therefore again take part in the fight against Rabies. As the next generation of health professionals, we see it as our duty to be a good role model for all those who have not taken action yet. With our campaign we want to show all veterinary and medical students that every little project has an impact. We want to encourage you to join us in the fight against rabies to finally be able to eliminate this disease. This year’s theme focuses on the elimination dog-mediated human rabies with the slogan: Vaccinate - Educate - Eliminate. This headline already mentions two key factors, which have a great impact on the road towards the elimination of rabies. The number of dog-mediated human rabies cases is high. Thousands of people die every year unnecessarily, since this transmission can be prevented! The elimination of dog-mediated human rabies is also one the sustainable goals defined by the WHO (World Health Organization), which should be achieved by 2030. IVSA & IFMSA have tried very hard in the past years to show the students the crucial impact of interdisciplinary sector and the importance of One Health approach to eliminate rabies We hope this material will assist you in your campaign - if you have not yet taken your part in it. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments you might have. IVSA & IFMSA
Global freedom from the threat of dogmediated rabies is feasible within our lifetime. With the tools, vaccine and evidence available, an integrated investment strategy and intersectoral approach is needed to make this vision a reality.
(WHO, Control and Elimination Strategies, http://www.who.int/rabies/control/en/) 1
CDC 2015
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II Rabies – the facts Rabies has been terrorising humans and animals for 4,000 years. It is transmitted between animals and humans (a zoonotic disease), usually via a bite wound inflicted by an infected animal, although licks on open sores and scratches may also pose a risk to developing rabies. While many mammals are capable of transmitting rabies, more than 99% of the 59,000 people that die from rabies each year are the result of exposure to a rabid dog. In addition to the thousands of human deaths, millions of dogs die each year due to rabies and indiscriminate culling due to fear of rabies, an ineffective preventive measure. Annual economic losses because of the disease are around 8.6 billion US dollars, mostly due to premature deaths, but also because of the cost of human post-exposure vaccines, lost income for victims of animal bites, livestock losses, and other costs. Prognosis Following exposure to the virus, symptoms can appear anywhere from a few days to more than a year afterwards; however, the average time to symptom onset is 3 to 12 weeks after exposure. The first symptoms of rabies are similar to those of the flu. As the disease progresses over just a few days, a person can experience delirium, abnormal behaviour and hallucinations, as well as the famed hydrophobia(fear of water) and foaming at the mouth (related to the paralysis of swallowing muscles and hyperventilation, which produces froth). Once symptoms manifest, rabies is 99.9% fatal. Only a handful of people have survived rabies, and most of them have permanent neurological disabilities. However, if people are given a course of vaccinations and boosters to their immune systems shortly after exposure to a rabid animal and before symptoms become evident, the disease can be prevented. Prevention Rabies is preventable. The tools and science to halt the extensive suffering, loss of life, and financial burden of rabies already exist. Primary interventions against rabies involve vaccination of dogs and responsible, humane canine population management. When these tools fail to prevent rabies at its source, secondary prevention methods must be used, such as human vaccination after exposure. Geography Although the rabies virus is distributed globally, with only Antarctica and a few island territories considered rabies virus free, canine rabies is well controlled or even eliminated in many countries. Today over 95% of human victims live in Africa and Asia, most in marginalised and impoverished rural communities. While rabies is the most deadly of all known zoonotic diseases, it is still labelled by the World Health Organization as one of 17 Neglected Tropical Diseases. 5 World Rabies Day 201 – IFMSA | IVSA
A neglected disease that perpetuates poverty Rabies is a preventable disease that afflicts the poor most, both in terms of its death toll as well as the financial burden associated with the disease. With a survival rate of less than 0.1%, those exposed to the virus face a stark choice: go in search of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP, the series of vaccines and immunoglobulin that prevent the onset of the disease) or die. In some cases, PEP costs more than the monthly household income and families are known to either go into debt to pay for PEP, or sell livestock on which they depend for income; both are options that negatively affect families’ future prospects. Dogs Countless animals die after suffering the horrific clinical symptoms of rabies. Dogs also suffer from a second tragedy: fear of rabies transmission from dogs regularly prompts mass dog killing in which animals are killed indiscriminately, often in brutal ways. Eliminating most dogs from an area creates a territorial vacuum and encourages new, likely unvaccinated, dogs to move in, and the entire process begins again. World experts agree that dog culling does not stop rabies, and in fact can make the situation severely worse. Preventing canine rabies is the key to saving human lives Canine vaccination is the key to preventing the disease in humans because it stops the disease at its source. The immunity of vaccinated dogs (and other domestic animals) also forms a protective barrier between potentially rabid dogs and wild animals, and people. All dogs should regularly be vaccinated against rabies, and in many countries it is required by law. What to do for an animal when it bites someone: ● A dog or cat that bites a person needs to be examined by a veterinarian immediately. ● The animal may require monitoring for 10 days to make sure it doesn’t develop rabies. ● Report any illness or unusual behavior by the animal to a veterinarian immediately. What to do when your animal has been bitten by another animal: ● Consult your veterinarian immediately and have your veterinarian examine your animal and assess your animal’s vaccination needs. ● Contact the relevant local authority (such as animal control) if the bite was from a stray or wild animal. ● Monitor your animal for a specified time period by state law or local ordinance (usually at least 45 days) if an unvaccinated or wild animal bit your pet. What to do if a person is bitten by an animal: Following human exposure to rabies, time is of the essence. 6 World Rabies Day 201 – IFMSA | IVSA
● The wound needs to be washed thoroughly with soap and running water for at least 15 minutes. ● The victim then needs to seek urgent medical care and exposure assessment. Prompt and appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) after being bitten and before the disease develops can stop rabies infection and prevent the disease. PEP consists of a series of rabies vaccinations, and, where available, immunoglobulin injections into the wound (these are antibodies against the rabies virus). The number of vaccine doses and the days on which you receive them may follow a different regimen, but 1 dose on each of days 0 (the day of the exposure, 3, 7, 14 and 28 is the most common. For PEP to be effective, the victim needs both the vaccination and the immunoglobulin treatment. In some cases, particularly for people who are considered at high risk of exposure, preexposure vaccinations (PrEP) are given. If subsequently exposed to rabies, the patient still needs two additional doses of vaccine, on day 0 and 3 but does not need immunoglobulin injections. PrEP is particularly important for people who are at risk of encountering rabid animals and who are, or will be, far away from medical services.
Some key challenges to rabies prevention ● Lack of awareness – this is a problem at all levels of society, from those most at risk to governments. ● Lack of coordination – as a zoonotic disease, prevention often falls under the remit of various agencies. It is essential that these agencies are joined-up in their approach the problem. ● Lack of data – Accurate surveillance (or monitoring) of rabies incidence is critical to a true understanding of the actual burden. ● Lack of capacity – this includes knowledge, the sufficient availability of quality vaccines and immunoglobulin (at a price people can afford), and networks to support supply.
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WHO Fact Sheet on Rabies
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1II. World Rabies Day On World Rabies Day, September 28 every year, the world unites in the fight against rabies and the suffering it causes. It is a day of activism and awareness. You can join this global movement by organizing or taking part in a World Rabies Day event. 3a. History of World Rabies Day World Rabies Day was launched in 2007, with the goal of engaging 55,000 people to do something to increase awareness on this day. The number 55,000 was chosen as a goal because this was the estimated number of people who died of rabies each year. World Rabies Day is held on September 28. This day commemorates the death of Louis Pasteur who, as the creator of the first rabies vaccine, laid the foundations to prevent this tragic disease. World Rabies Day is the first global advocacy, education and awareness campaign for rabies, reaching over 150 million people with rabies prevention messages, and it has reinitiated rabies prevention in many parts of the world. Global participation continues to grow each year - to date at least 150 countries have supported World Rabies Day by hosting events and over 300,000 visitors have logged onto the website to download free educational material and toolkits for their events. Over 150 participating schools of public health, veterinary and medical colleges have hosted rabies awareness events, and in 2014, every continent had at least 1 World Rabies Day event, with 260 events registered on the Global Alliance for Rabies Control website from 48 countries. This campaign has the support of all international health organizations and major stakeholders such as the WHO, OIE and FAO. It inspires and supports rabies champions to take action in their own communities on World Rabies Day. As future leaders in the fight to prevent rabies, veterinary and medical students can start helping their communities by participating in World Rabies Day. The World Rabies Day logo is known worldwide, and is available online (http://rabiesalliance.org/world-rabies-day/logos/) in over 40 languages for anyone to download and use with their events. There are also many awareness resources (http://rabiesalliance.org/resources/) available online for different audiences and languages, which people can use at their events and for other activities around rabies.
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3b. Global Conference on Rabies- a brief update In November 2015, the World Health Organisation (WHO) together with the Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) , the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) organized the Global Conference on Rabies. The purpose of this conference was to establish a sustainable concept that would help eliminate dog mediated human rabies. Adaptable tools should be created which can be applied to actually achieve elimination of dog-mediated rabies. (e.g.: regional vaccination plans for dogs) The number of human rabies cases caused by dog bites has gone up into thousands.. More than 95 % of all human rabies cases are dog mediated. (WHO, 2015: Report on Global Conference on Rabies.) This number can be lowered by emphasizing the promotion of vaccination of pet dogs and stray dogs especially in rural areas. 70% of the dog populations must be vaccinated to have a sufficient and efficient vaccination rate. (WHO, 2015: Report on Global Conference on Rabies.) The access to post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) must be improved as well. 10% of the money that is now spend on PEP, would be enough to stop the transmission cycle by vaccinating dogs. These two factors need to be improved parallel. We should not forget that part of a sustainable strategy is a good monitoring system and disease surveillance. It has been made clear that Rabies is a global health problem that needs to be tackled with the One Health concept that builds on intersectoral collaborations: health professionals, governments and the general public included. Key aspects are of course education, awareness, vaccination programs and community engagement, including empowering local healthcare workers. Finally a Global Framework was released naming 5 pillars with necessary activities to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies. This framework can be used as a guideline for regional implementations. > Pillar 1: Socio Cultural (including: Awareness, responsible dog ownership,...) > Pillar 2: Technical (including: vaccines, surveillance, diagnostics, … ) > Pillar 3: Organization (including: One Health projects, good governance, coordination,…) > Pillar 4: Political (including: political support, legal framework, regional engagement, …) > Pillar 5: Resourcs (including: Investment, Business plans, ..:) It was pointed out that until now students have not been integrated and utilized enough to take part in the fight against rabies. We are the next generation of leaders against this disease and thus we must take action now. 10 World Rabies Day 201 – IFMSA | IVSA
3c. World Rabies Day 2016 - #Edcuate Vaccinate Eliminate Organizations and individuals across the world hold events in their communities and promote World Rabies Day every year, and each year a different theme is selected to help everyone to spread the message. The themes over the last eight years all emphasized the need to work together in order to end this disease, and this year’s theme is no exception - #Edcuate Vaccinate Eliminate This theme can work in many ways, for example: ● National Governments working on implementing vaccinations of dogs in their legislation. Teachers, Health Professionals, Animal Caretakers working together on the educating people about animal behaviour. ● Health Professionals together with governmental workers promoting mass vaccinations in dogs.
● Government departments working together at the national and local levels, as collaboration is needed between public health, animal husbandry, education and possibly other departments, as different elements of rabies control usually come under different departments ● Professionals from the human and animal health sectors working together, with educators, legislators, community workers and others, to prevent rabies at the community level, and to influence the authorities ● Communities working together to improve access to vaccines and ensure that dogs are vaccinated ● Families living together with their vaccinated animals, safe from rabies
3d. Medical and veterinary students and World Rabies Day
World Rabies Day is an opportunity for medical students and veterinary students to work together, to encourage intersectoral collaboration in rabies prevention. Physicians and veterinarians are major stakeholder groups in tackling rabies. Every year on World Rabies Day, September 28, thousands of individuals and organizations conduct events to raise awareness about rabies and the need for pre-exposure canine vaccination and post-exposure human vaccination. Students have always been an active part of World Rabies Day, with past activities including veterinary schools across the US competing to host a rabies symposium at their universities, and individual students raising funds and awareness through sponsored activities such as marathons and mountain climbing.
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Involvement of the IVSA and IFMSA In 2013, the IVSA promoted and organized World Rabies Day events across different chapters globally. The IVSA and IFMSA both have a strong focus on the One Health concept, which is defined as: A collaborative effort of multiple disciplines • working locally, nationally, and globally • to attain optimal health for – people, – animals and – the environment As part of this commitment, both organizations have set up One Health Committees. Rabies is one of the diseases that falls very clearly under the One Health approach if it is to be tackled effectively, and this is why the IVSA and IFMSA have joined GARC to increase awareness around World Rabies Day among veterinary and medical students. In 2014 the IVSA/IFMSA/GARC partnership held the Global One Health Challenge competition focused on future health professionals this World Rabies Day, asking them to work together against rabies. Teams from all over the world participated in this competition, and all the events were compiled in this booklet (http://issuu.com/scoh/docs/gohc_event_booklet_v3), which we hope will inspire you to participate this year in World Rabies Day . 3e.Why students should take the lead As students of the healing professions, you have probably already realised that you have great potential to make a difference in the field of disease prevention beyond the clinical setting. In the case of rabies, for example, you can educate people about what to do when they get bitten, encourage them to vaccinate their dogs and take care of their animals responsibly, influence local authorities to implement existing rabies laws, and work with local charities to help people and animals who could be affected by this deadly disease. Above this, you also have the power to add your voice to the international fight against rabies through social media, professional networks and associations such as the IVSA and IFMSA.
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4. Participating in World Rabies Day 2015 Being part of the World Rabies Day partnership is really simple – 4a. Step by step 1. Create and register your event online and fill out our Registration Form. You can also register your event on GARC homepage: GARC Registration Form. Above all, we encourage cooperation between medical and veterinary students. 2. Organize an event in your community around World Rabies Day – upto October 31st 2016. We’re looking in particular for events that show: ✓ strong partnerships that demonstrate the One Health approach, particularly those that show partnerships between medical and veterinary students, although other partnerships will also be considered. ✓ effective outreach activities in the community - the number of people reached by the event ● Your event could be anything from mass dog vaccinations to school education to street theatre, anything that helps to increase awareness about rabies (see next section for more details) ● Get inspiration from last year’s events (http://issuu.com/scoh/docs/gohc_event_booklet_v3) 3. Share and submit your event o Share your event with others around the world – invite the media to your event, create and post videos online, spread the message through Facebook and other social media, or any other way you like, using the hashtags #WorldRabiesDay o Submit full details of your event by November 30, 2015 using the report form that will be sent to you after you register your event. If you’re a medical student, please submit your report to the IFMSA at scophd@ifmsa.org. If you’re a
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veterinary student, please submit your report to the IVSA at publichealth@ivsa.org.
Please email us at the following addresses if you have any queries about World Rabies Day or about the project that you want to set up: IVSA: publichealth@ivsa.org IFMSA: scophd@ifmsa.org 4b. Setting up your event There are 15 steps that will help you to organise your event, right from the beginning until you’ve completed the event and reporting - and please don’t forget to have a good time in the process! 1. Team Set up a team to help with your event – we encourage veterinary and medical collaboration. Democratic decision-making and nourishing of the team spirit are important, but it should be clear who is responsible for each part of the plan and what each team member expects from the event. 2. Ideas Brainstorm ideas and possibilities. There are some examples of other events in 3c Ideas for World Rabies Events in this manual 3. Your activity Once you’ve decided on your activity, as a team you need to determine the scope of the event, the targeted beneficiaries, your budget and possible partners. 4. Set up a detailed action plan, strategy and budget Initial meeting: At a convenient time and place for all of you, discuss your event – you may find the event checklist (appendix 2) useful for this – and create a detailed list of actions, a timeline and clearly identify who is responsible for what. Prepare work tables/sheets with specific tasks and go through the plan one step at the time. Be clear about what you expect each team member to do. To avoid misunderstandings and possible resentments, make sure you all understand what others are doing too. Repeat the most important things more than once – people tend to forget. Continue to be transparent in your work and communicate updates among yourselves on a regular basis (at least once a week), so that you all stay in the loop. Organize other meetings according to need.
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5. Fundraising Before you start fundraising carefully consider exactly what you need. Then determine who can help you and how they can help you. Make sure you clearly ask for specific things. The kind of fundraising you do obviously depends on what is acceptable in your country but some examples are given below: ● Holding a cake (or bake) sale, ● Asking for sponsorship to complete a task – e.g. a sponsored run, bike ride or swim, ● Holding a raffle (local businesses may supply prizes or you could consider a 50/50 format where the raffle winner takes 50% of the target amount and your team takes the other 50%.) 6. Extra volunteers If you need extra volunteers for your event, start with a general call among students at your university – it helps (but is not essential) if they are from different sectors, particularly if they are going to be part of the team. Advertise in places that students gather (mess hall, dormitory, library, computer room, departmental notice boards, favourite café or bar), as well on the university email network or website, if one is available to you. If you find it difficult to recruit volunteers, try approaching local NGOs or youth centres. 7. Externals Whether you’re coordinating a World Rabies Day event locally or nationally, do some research on institutions, services, governmental and non-governmental organizations or special programs that deal with rabies – these are called externals. They can support your event by providing other contacts, writing letters of support, sharing their publications and materials, providing additional volunteers, facilities, equipment or professionals (lecturers, designers, etc.) and financial support. Businesses, in particular, may support you by either by directly donating to your project (sometimes in return for advertising at your event) or by providing services in kind (e.g. providing refreshments for your volunteers, covering printing costs, helping with sterile waste services, etc.) 8. Training It is always best to set aside at least 2 hours to discuss rabies (see Rabies – the facts, above, and http://rabiesalliance.org/rabies/what-is-rabies-and-frequently-askedquestions/), how to best approach people or answer questions when approached, and How to handle the media (appendix 3). This session will make your group more cohesive, and give you the time and opportunity to express your concerns or ask questions.
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9. Media Work with the media to maximise the reach and impact of your activity. Issue a press release. You could even consider organizing a press conference! Again, this is covered in How to handle the media (appendix 3). 10. Review How are things going? Do you need to make adjustments to your plan? 11. Conduct the event Use the checklist (appendix 2) – or your modified version –to stay on track and make sure nothing is overlooked. Make one person responsible for taking pictures, video and comments from attendees. Otherwise this is easily forgotten and you need it for the report and your own social media efforts. Remember also to collect any press clippings. 12. Debrief Have a final meeting after the activity to evaluate how it went. What went well? What could have been better? This is valuable feedback for organizing events in the future. Remember to thank each other – you will all be promoted on the partners’ website and social media - and if your team wins, they could be participating in a project fair! 13. ‘Thank you’ Remember to thank those who supported the activity, especially if they donated money or materials–a nice thank you note goes a long way! It may make people more willing to support you in the future. 14. Report Send in your World Rabies Day report using the report form that will be sent to you after you register your event (preferably within 2 weeks after the event, while all the details are still fresh in your memory and supporting evidence is more readily available). Financial - your sponsors, if you have any, may want a financial report which records how the money was used. 15. Next year Have a follow up meeting when planning next year’s World Rabies Day event! TROUBLESHOOTING All of the steps above can be used anywhere in the world for a World Rabies Day event, with modifications according to your local/national situation. Some steps can be done in parallel, while others really need to wait until the previous step is successfully completed. If you find things aren’t going to plan, adapt and change them a bit to make it work. It would be wise to start preparing for your World Rabies Day event at least a few weeks in advance, Plan activities according to your time, money and resources. Some ideas – like 16 World Rabies Day 201 – IFMSA | IVSA
organizing community education workshops, having an information stand at the university with educational materials and posters from http://rabiesalliance.org/resources/, or organising a theme party – can be done with relatively few resources. Something can always be done; be creative! 4c. Ideas for World Rabies Day activities ● Organize World Rabies Day information stands at a community event or centre ● Mobile team units / outreach – distributing materials in places where you don’t have a information stand, or holding workshops in remote communities ● Indoor stands in pharmacies or drug stores ● Art performance / installations – in the street or following other organized events ● Play or skits – by peer educators or actors ● Posters, photographs or drawing exhibits ● Graffiti, creative writing or art contests – for young people ● Video airing – with or without facilitated discussions afterwards ● Joint efforts – candlelight walk, ringing bells, holding hands ● Together Against Rabies theme parties or concerts ● National sport events – have a short speech about rabies and hand out leaflets ● Local sport events – organize a football or basketball End Rabies Together tournament ● Peer education workshops – for students from other fields to increase awareness about the need for rabies vaccinations ● Organize interactive lectures or round table discussions with externals ● Organise a mass dog vaccination event with your local clinic or animal welfare group ● Organise sessions in schools for children to learn about dog bite prevention, rabies and responsible pet care - we have a lot of resources you can use for children http://rabiesalliance.org/resources/teaching-children/
4d. Sharing your activities Remember to share your wonderful work with everyone – put it on your website, if you have one, post it on your Facebook page, send emails to your friends, families and supporters (if you’re part of an organisation), add it to your newsletter, put it on the community notice boards, ask journalists to cover the event in your local newspaper or magazines, speak on a radio show, write an article for a student magazine, hold a press conference – these are just examples – there are many other ways to share your work with your community and beyond. See How To handle the media and Using social media (appendices 3 and 4) for guidance.
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Appendices Appendix 1: Relevant links Global Alliance for Rabies Control www.rabiesalliance.org International Veterinary Students’ Association www.ivsa.org International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations www.ifmsa.org World Health Organisation http://www.who.int/rabies/en/ World Organisation for Animal Health http://www.oie.int/animal-health-in-the-world/rabies-portal/ One Health Initiative http://www.onehealthinitiative.com World Medical Association www.wma.net World Veterinary Association http://www.worldvet.org
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Appendix 2: Event checklist Although we’ve tried to make this comprehensive, it is only a guide– it may be that not all of these are relevant to your activity – and, equally, your activity may involve actions not on this list. Create your team Decide on your event Register your team and your event on rabiesalliance.org Inform any authorities and get permission, if needed Choose a location or venue Make an event plan Recruit volunteers Externals Offer businesses the opportunity to support your event with sponsorship What do you need from them? What is in it for them? Invite guests/speakers/celebrities/performers Promote your event Organize printing of posters and leaflets Contact the media (see Appendix 3, How to handle the media) Remind people regularly of the date and time of your event. Risk Management Do you need insurance - public liability, volunteers? Risk assessment – what could go wrong and what is your plan if it does? Appoint first aiders Waste Waste – how will you clean up after the event? Do you need any sterile services? Refreshments Who will you provide refreshments for? What are the refreshments? Who is going to supply them? The day before Contact volunteers and guests to check that they know where and when they need to be available. On the day Team briefing Organize volunteer registration area Organize area for guests Circulate contact list of staff, volunteers and their responsibilities 19 World Rabies Day 201 – IFMSA | IVSA
Thank people when they leave After the event Clean up Thank you notes to volunteers, sponsors and guests De-brief among the team. What went well? What could you do better? Submit your report
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Appendix 3: How to handle the media Contacting the media may seem daunting at first but journalists are always looking for new stories. Every year World Rabies Day makes the news and more news means greater awareness about rabies. Think about the following before you contact the media: What are you going to say? New press releases that you can modify are available on rabiesalliance.org. These will include the latest facts and figures about rabies and quotes from leading figures. Depending on the outlet you are contacting, look to also include: ● references to other events taking place in your country ● comments from relevant government departments (health, agriculture and/or animal health) ● national statistics or information about the rabies incidence – or even the lack of available data. When are you going to contact them? World Rabies Day is on a Monday this year. We recommend that you send your press release to the media one week before your event. If your event is taking place on World Rabies Day (September 28) then submit your release on Monday, September 21. Follow up again with a telephone call later in the week. Who are you going to contact? Finding the best person to contact is sometimes challenging. It is often worth making enquiries about who to contact as part of your planning. Study the publications you plan to approach. These could be local or national newspapers, relevant magazines and websites, and TV and radio news channels. Note the names of journalists who have covered other public health related issues. Why will they be interested in your story? This is an important question to ask yourself. To answer it you need to think about who you are contacting, who their audience is, and how you can tailor your approach. It may sound obvious but local outlets will be interested in local stories, national outlets will require details of national significance, publications aimed at young people will want a story that appeals to their audience, and so on. You can use Rabies –the facts, and other documents on rabiesalliance.org to help you to add relevant details. Where are they and how are you going to contact them? Think about inviting local journalists to attend your event. They are more likely to come if you have dignitaries, celebrities, or performers coming too. 21 World Rabies Day 201 – IFMSA | IVSA
Most press releases are sent via email and this is quickest and cheapest. However, sometimes a traditional letter can stand out as something different and attract a journalist’s attention long enough to engage them in your story. Whatever you do, follow up with a telephone call later in the week to see if they have had a chance to read the press release and ask if they want more information.
Radio and TV A popular event for World Rabies Day is a question and answer session in which people talk about their experiences of rabies and can ask questions. It is a great way of dispelling myths about rabies. A phone-in on a local radio station multiplies the impact of the discussion. If you are thinking of doing this, contact your local radio station ideally 6 weeks to a month in advance underlining the public health importance of the subject. Try to make sure you have at least one expert to answer questions, more if possible. Have a back-up plan in case there aren’t many callers, including a script of things to say and stories to tell about rabies and rabies prevention. Maybe you could arrange for volunteers to call in with pre-prepared questions. Press conferences Reporters are usually sent to press conferences, so there needs to be a good story around the conference that makes the media outlets want to send someone. Some examples of things that can attract media interest: ● Having a celebrity at the press conference ● Having a press conference in conjunction with another event, such as a special mass vaccination or public awareness campaign. It can help to position this campaign as something out of the ordinary, possibly in terms of the numbers covered, or a new area or audience. ● Introducing new data about rabies prevention or highlighting the urgent concerns that need to be addressed – a call to action could be included You could also have good photos or video that will only be released at the press conference. Structure of the press conference: ● Keep it short – journalists can be very busy and you want to get the whole message across ● If you have a celebrity, make that the main part ● You would usually have a short speech about the issue you want to highlight, then allow questions to a panel (this could include a celebrity, government officials who are responsible for the issue, and someone from your organisation) ● Don’t have more than two or three speakers, and they should speak for a maximum of 5 minutes each 22 World Rabies Day 201 – IFMSA | IVSA
Checklist before the press conference ● Provide enough notice – advertise your press conference at least a week in advance – send out a release to the media that includes: o Location o Date and time o Speakers (highlight celebrity if you have one) o The main theme o Contact details ● Call the main media channels after you have sent this out, to try and get an idea of the numbers attending and encourage them to attend ● It is worth checking the best time to hold a press conference in your area, but either 10-11am or 2:30-3pm seem to be the times when you get the most journalists for a press conference ● Location – Ensure that people can find it easily, that there is space for parking, and that there are banners or signs near the venue. Also, check the lighting and sound system, seating arrangements, make sure you have a backdrop, interview space, exhibition space (if you plan to have one) and power outlets for camera crews. ● Speeches for the media: o Do not have long speeches – 5 minutes maximum – make sure you say the parts that you want the media to quote o Distribute the key statement to journalists when you start the conference (add to media pack – see below) – this allows them to choose what they want and helps to avoid being misquoted o If you do want to use a long speech, give it out as a hard copy, but don’t cover the whole thing at the conference o Do not have too many speakers – that will give out too many messages, and you need one main message to be taken away ● You should have a chairperson to introduce speakers, explain the process, answer questions if needed and keep to deadlines ● Refreshments such as tea, coffee and snacks should be put out. Designate one or more staff members to welcome people and take their names and contact details – these can be added to your media contacts database for future stories also ● Media pack – give each journalist a media pack at the beginning of the conference that contains all the necessary information. It can include: o The main speeches o Information about your organisation and work, particularly the issue you are focusing on at the press conference o Background information about rabies in your area o Background information about World Rabies Day o Press release – this should include all the best quotes. Send it also to journalists who did not attend the press conference o Photos 23 World Rabies Day 201 – IFMSA | IVSA
The GARC website has materials that you can use in your pack http://rabiesalliance.org/media/media-toolkit/for-media-professionals ● Have one of your staff or volunteers take photographs and also write a story about the release for your website or newsletter. You can also send out some of these photos to journalists who did not attend the conference
Press Conference Checklist adapted from Amnesty International Campaigning Manual
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Appendix 4: Using social media More and more people are using social media to find information about health and you can use social media to promote your World Rabies Day activities. This document provides an outline of how to get results from social media for those who are not familiar with these networks. Major Social Networking Sites Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/ YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/ How to get results: Partner, Promote, Cross-Promote The interactive nature of social media provides an ideal opportunity to share your World Rabies Day messages with current, new, and emerging audiences. Reaching these audiences across social media involves three steps: partner, promote, cross-promote. Partner - Establish relationships with organizations involved in rabies prevention and overlapping issues Promote - Distribute your messages to them Cross-promote - Interact with audiences to create links between different rabies resources and messages On the next page is a chart, which provides a snapshot of some strategic ways to use social media.
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Social Media Facebook Like facebook.com/thescoh facebook.com/ifmsa
Twitter Follow @IvsaScoh @ifmsa
Partner
Promote
Cross-promote
Find and like organizations with a similar interest in rabies, e.g. ● Health departments ● Colleges of public health and veterinary medicine ● Human and animal healthcare organizations ● Animal welfare organisations
Send periodic messages about rabies to all friends ● Write a note to your wall to promote an upcoming event and encourage your friends to participate ● Post educational and/or awareness messages ● Update your status to include a countdown to your rabies event and/or World Rabies Day
Respond to other people’s posts about rabies related information ● Use current friends as a way to engage with new collaborators ● Highlight other World Rabies Day events and use them as an opportunity to promote yours.
Seek out and follow other organizations with an interest in rabies, e.g. ● Health departments ● Colleges of public health and veterinary medicine ● Human and animal healthcare organizations ● Animal welfare organisations
Send periodic tweets to promote upcoming events or initiatives. Remember a tweet is a maximum of 10 characters but can include links to other webpages.
Retweet tweets from @rabiesalliance and any other rabies related tweets.
On the day of the event, dedicate time to tweeting updates about what is happening at the event.
Follow media outlets that have twitter pages. Watch for opportunities to contact them about your rabies events.
Address rabies relevant tweets to @rabiesalliance.
Tweet about any local or national rabies stories.
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