THE government has been urged to look into increasing the manpower of the Department of Veterinary Services Sarawak (DVSS) in an effort to effectively combat rabies and ensure the health of the community.
Billy Sujang (GPS-Opar) said the department has requested an additional 566 staff members to support their operations.
“The establishment of 30 Veterinary Mobile Teams (VMT) is essential to accelerate vaccination coverage to at least 200,000 dogs annually and to implement the seven outlined strategies effectively,” he said this in his debate on the Supply Bill 2025 here, today (Nov 15).
Billy said if the government does not approve the additional posts requested for the establishment of these mobile teams, the state risks failing to eradicate rabies as stipulated in the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
“Today, we confront a grave public health crisis: the alarming incidence of rabies among humans. Since the re-emergence of rabies outbreaks in 2017, we have seen a total of 82 reported cases, resulting in 75 fatalities, culminating in a shocking mortality rate of 91.5 per cent.
“This statistic alone should compel us to take immediate and decisive action to address this critical issue.”
Billy also said that the distribution of rabies cases across Sarawak is particularly concerning.
“Kuching has reported the highest number of cases at 27, followed closely by Sibu (26), Serian (15), and Bintulu (six), with the remaining areas recording fewer than five cases each.
“This pattern underscores the urgent need to implement effective control measures for rabies-positive animals, as the simple truth remains: no bite means no disease
“This means that controlling the population of rabies-infected animals is paramount in preventing further human cases.”
