Global Events

World Rabies Day 2023: All for one, One Health for all

Rabies Day 2023
9:00am (GMT)

World Rabies Day is the biggest event on the global rabies calendar, coordinated by our long time partner, the  Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC)  and commemorated every year on September 28 – the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur – since 2007. 

World Rabies Day aims to raise awareness and advocate for rabies elimination globally. It is an event designed to be inclusive, uniting people, organisations, and stakeholders across all sectors against rabies. With this concept of togetherness and unity in mind, the theme for this year’s World Rabies Day is:    

All for one, One Health for all 

This year’s World Rabies day theme, “Rabies: All for 1, One Health for All” in reference to Alexandre Dumas’s famous novel, builds on the 2022 success of One Health, taking it a step further to focus more on collaboration, equality, and the strengthening of health systems.

The Three Musketeers can be seen as a team of individuals who overcame strife and injustice to achieve their goals: a clear correlation between the struggles of the stakeholders in rabies control and our joint efforts to eliminate the disease. There is a need for the global community to overcome imbalanced health systems and strife to achieve our global goal of zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030 #ZeroBy30

This event is also an opportunity to remind stakeholders that the fight against rabies is not limited to a single day but needs to be conducted in a sustainable way to ultimately decrease the number of rabies deaths. Supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Against Rabies Forum  takes a multi-sectoral, One Health approach bringing together governments, vaccine producers, researchers, NGOs and development partners.  

What can you do?

Under this year’s theme, a number of rabies elimination work can be undertaken. Here are some things you can do:

  • Get together with partners or other interested people in your community and start working together towards our goal of ending rabies and ensuring a better future for all.
  • Celebrate World Rabies Day 2023 with a vaccination campaign, education initiatives, raising awareness around you or advocating for dog vaccination.
  • Run dog population management campaigns, organise a competition, or share social media messages with your followers.

Whatever your activity of choice, under One Health, all walks of life and all partners are equally as important: let’s work together as one to make One Health available to all – using rabies elimination as the example! 

Below are some communication materials you can use and share:  

Rabies Day 2023
Rabies Day 2023
Rabies Day 2023
Rabies Day 2023