The closing workshop for the Blockrabies project was held on 12 August 2025 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. BlockRabies is an innovative project that uses technology to increase access to preventive rabies treatment, by improving coordination between the sectors involved in rabies control. The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr Dao Daouda, Director of Resources and Development at the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS). He represented the Director General of the CSRS, Professor Inza Koné. In his speech, Dr Dao congratulated the BlockRabies project team and the institutions involved in implementing the project for the work they had accomplished and the results they had achieved.

With the BlockRabies project, Côte d’Ivoire has made significant progress in the vaccination of people exposed to rabies. In the period from 2022 to April 2024, the proportion of patients completing treatment after being bitten by a dog rose from 35% to 93%.

According to Dr Tetchi Mathilde, head of the rabies centre at the Institut National d’Hygiène Publique (INHP), awareness-raising has been an important factor in this increase. “We insisted on raising awareness. We presented the project to the authorities. We explained to them the benefits of joining the project. The authorities were with us from the beginning to the end of the project. With them, we were able to raise awareness among the communities and their leaders. We then went on to introduce the intradermal protocol. The results of the project enabled us to lobby the health authorities to extend the intradermal protocol nationwide.

The intradermal protocol is an anti-rabies treatment method for people bitten by dogs. It consists of 3 or 4 injections into the skin over 4 days, unlike the Zagreb protocol, which takes 21 days, or the Essen protocol, which takes 14 to 28 days. The results of the BlockRabies project have confirmed the effectiveness of the intradermal protocol and its acceptance by communities.

“The BlockRabies project is functional proof of digitalisation in public health at the interface of human and animal health, including the vaccine supply chain. This application is unique,” said Professor Jakob Zinsstag, Principal Investigator of the BlockRabies project.

Subsequently, Professor Bassirou Bonfoh, Director of the Afrique One consortium at the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS) and co-lead investigator of the Blockrabies project, recommended that the potential of the project’s results be proposed to the AU-IBAR technical committee for the development of the elimination strategy to contribute to its Continental Strategy for the Elimination of Canine Rabies in Africa. AU-IBAR will be able to benefit from the results of the Blockrabies project in the areas of vaccine stock management, community involvement and intersectoral communication, and free vaccine.

Emmanuel Dabo//ASCA