OIE Rabies Vaccine Bank to benefit Africa with the support of the European Union and other donors

The OIE Rabies Vaccine Bank, initially established in 2012, has continued to stimulate strong support for countries in Africa thanks to the “Strengthening Veterinary Services in Developing Countries“ project, funded by the European Union, and with funding from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and other notable donors to the OIE. A virtual bank, managed by the OIE Headquarters in Paris, in partnership with two major pharmaceutical companies, which are on stand-by, has the capacity to supply small emergency volumes of rabies vaccines in a very short space of time, if required, or larger volumes of vaccines to manage scheduled mass-vaccination campaigns. Vaccines are available in 20 ml vials (20 doses), 10 ml vials (10 doses) or 1 ml vials (single dose), and are labelled in English, Spanish, French or Arabic. Delivery times for non-emergency supplies start from 6 weeks to 12 months. In urgent situations, vaccines can be shipped within 10 days. Minimum purchase volumes vary according to the volume of the vials, with a minimum of 5,000 doses (for 10 ml vials).

OIE Member Countries in Africa can request support from this vaccine bank for several reasons:

• To source quality vaccines for mass-vaccination campaigns, in large quantities, at the best possible rate, avoiding tendering procedures (sole supplier, through the OIE);
• To benefit from a stock of vaccines on short notice, to kick-start mass vaccination campaigns, whilst waiting for the national tendering procedures to be completed;
• To manage outbreaks of rabies (emergency response measures, limited quantity of vaccines).

The OIE Rabies Vaccine Bank does not contribute to cold-chain and storage once vaccines have been delivered to the country, nor to the logistics of the actual vaccination campaigns. Countries in Africa can benefit from the OIE Rabies Vaccine Bank mechanism through:

• Vaccine purchase by the OIE (using donor funds when available);
• Direct vaccine purchase with national funding,
• Direct vaccine purchase by international organisations (such as WHO).

Under the terms of the above-mentioned project, and as a first beneficiary of this vaccine bank, the Veterinary Services of Kenya already received 200,000 doses of rabies vaccines in late October 2016, enabling them to launch the vaccination of dogs in Siaya County during the Christmas holidays, with the support of school children. Within 10 days, 14,000 dogs were vaccinated.

For enquiries on access to these vaccines in your country, please contact : Dr Samuel Wakhusama

For more information on the OIE Rabies Vaccine Bank, please view the brochure or view the YouTube video