From January next year, all vaccinated dogs and cats in Ghana would be issued with cards as part of measures to enforce mandatory rabies immunisation in the country.
The National Pets Vaccination Card (NPVC) to be issued by the Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD) will ensure uniformity, proper tracking, harmonised reporting, and reliable national data generation.
It forms part of efforts to sustain rabies prevention and contribute to the global target of zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
The Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) of the VSD, Dr Emmanuel Allegye-Cudjoe, disclosed this at a press conference in Accra on Thursday to mark this year’s World Rabies Day (WRD), held on the theme “Act Now: You, Me, Community.”
He stressed that rabies remained one of the deadliest zoonotic diseases globally, despite being 100 per cent preventable.
An estimated 59,000 people, mostly children in Africa and Asia, die from the disease each year.
Dr Allegye-Cudjoe said 146,108 animals had been vaccinated against rabies nationwide between January and September this year.
Of this figure, 140,599 were dogs, while 3,535 cats were vaccinated under the Mission Rabies campaign, which began on September 5, 2025.
An additional 1,974 animals were vaccinated through the Ghana Private Veterinary Medical Association (GHPRIVATE).
The CVO said the VSD would intensify public education through coordinated efforts with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ghana Education Service (GES), religious bodies, the media, and other stakeholders.
Plans are also underway for a national dog and cat population survey, infrastructure strengthening, and closer collaboration with one health partners in the human health, environment, and wildlife sectors.
The Director of Management Services at the VSD, Mr Emmanuel Eshun, announced plans for new legislation to promote responsible pet ownership.
He reminded pet owners to vaccinate their animals annually, as required by the national rabies vaccination policy, instead of every three years.
Mr Eshun urged pet importers to adhere to VSD protocols and noted that identifying vaccinated animals remains a challenge, as vaccine manufacturers no longer provide tags due to cost.
He, therefore, called on Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to develop innovative ways of tagging vaccinated pets.
He also highlighted staffing constraints at the VSD and appealed for stakeholder support to strengthen its operations.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
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The post Mandatory immunisation for Dogs, Cats effective Jan. 2026 appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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