Delhi moves to end rabies deaths with mandatory reporting and tracking

By declaring human rabies a notifiable disease, Delhi aims to tighten surveillance, ensure early treatment and move closer to its goal of zero human deaths from rabies

Rabies is a disease that kills almost every time it shows symptoms, yet can be stopped completely with timely action. Now, Delhi is making a decisive move to end rabies deaths through tracking and mandatory reporting of human cases.

 

The Delhi government is set to declare human rabies a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, a step Delhi Health Minister Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh says will transform how cases are detected, reported and treated. The move comes as evidence mounts that rabies in India remains dangerously under-reported, despite being preventable.

 

“Rabies is completely preventable. Making it a notifiable disease will ensure early reporting, timely treatment, and stronger prevention to save lives in Delhi,” he said, according to the Press Trust of India.

 

 

Once the notification is issued by the Delhi government, detailed reporting guidelines will be circulated to healthcare institutions to ensure uniform compliance.

 

The move follows stringent directions from the Supreme Court (SC) in a suo motu case titled City hounded by strays, kids pay price, which flagged a sharp rise in dog-bite incidents in schools, hospitals, bus depots, railway stations and sports complexes.

 

The decision also gains urgency from a July 2025 nationwide health facility survey titled Uneven access to rabies care: gaps in vaccine and immunoglobulin availability in India, published in The Lancet by researchers from the Indian Council of Medical Research–National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE).

 

The survey across 15 states and 467 public health facilities revealed that while nearly 80 per cent of public facilities stocked anti-rabies vaccines (ARV), only around 20 per cent had rabies immunoglobulin (RIG). At the primary care level, just 5.9 per cent of facilities stocked RIG.

 

What does it mean to make rabies a notifiable disease?

 

When a disease is declared notifiable, every suspected, probable or confirmed case must be reported to public health authorities. In Delhi’s case, this obligation will apply to all government and private hospitals, medical colleges and even individual practitioners.

 

The goal is to ensure that no more rabies cases go unreported. Mandatory reporting will allow health authorities to track trends in real time, spot clusters early and intervene before more lives are lost.

 

By mapping where cases occur, authorities can identify high-risk zones, strengthen dog vaccination and sterilisation drives, and improve coordination between human health services and animal health departments. This “One Health” approach is globally recognised as essential for controlling dog-mediated rabies. 

 

How deadly is rabies and when can it be stopped?

 

Rabies is almost invariably fatal once symptoms begin. But there is a crucial window after an animal bite when the disease can be stopped completely.

 

Timely post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which includes immediate wound washing, followed by anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) and, in severe cases, rabies immunoglobulin (RIG), is 100 per cent effective when given correctly and on time. Delays in reporting, referral or treatment are often what turn a preventable infection into a death.

 

What rabies treatment facilities are currently available in Delhi?

 

To improve access, Delhi has already scaled up its rabies prevention network. According to reports:

• ARV is available at 59 health facilities across all 11 districts.
• RIG is provided at 33 designated hospitals and centres.

Doctors say that without reliable access to both vaccines and immunoglobulin, especially in primary health centres, elimination goals may remain out of reach. The SC, in its above-mentioned order, has asked states and Union Territories to conduct regular inspections and ensure uninterrupted availability of ARV and RIG in all hospitals. 

 

Why reporting matters for rabies control in India

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India is endemic for rabies and accounts for 36 per cent of the world’s rabies deaths. However, it stresses that the true burden of rabies in India is not fully known.

 

WHO, other public health agencies and experts have consistently stated that rabies cases and deaths in India are undercounted and largely underreported. Without mandatory reporting, authorities often rely on fragmented data from hospitals or media reports.

 

Health experts say notification will finally provide a clear picture of the true burden of rabies in Delhi, much like surveillance systems used for polio, tuberculosis or Covid-19. According to experts, you cannot control what you do not count, and rabies has long suffered from invisibility. 

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This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.