A year of impact: Working to end the world's deadliest disease

2025 was a record-breaking year – thanks to our incredible supporters, volunteers and partner organisations by our side. Since 2013, we have been working to end rabies and create a safer future for all through our vaccination, education, and surveillance programmes. 2025 was a year of growth as we worked towards this goal.

During 2025, over 2.1 million dogs were vaccinated and over 4.9 million people educated on rabies prevention.

Continue reading to discover more about our work in 2025.

Stopping rabies at the source: 2,117,369 animals vaccinated

Rabies is a disease that spreads from animals to people. At the core of our mission is canine vaccination, as dogs serve as a reservoir for the disease and are the main source of transmission to humans. In 2025, we continued to vaccinate all year round in our flagship projects and complete annual mass vaccination campaigns in our other project areas, working alongside our project partners and local governments.

Vaccinating one dog goes beyond individual protection – it helps keep other dogs, wildlife and people safe. Through rabies vaccinations, we are creating a healthier dog population, which helps build healthier communities. Accessing veterinary care is essential for not only dogs but whole communities. Every vaccine administered is logged into the WVS Data Collection App, allowing us to deliver campaigns as efficiently and effectively as possible.

In September, we completed the first-ever provincial-wide mass dog vaccination campaign in Laos, with 21,500 dogs vaccinated during this four-day project. This campaign was delivered in Vientiane province to protect communities from this deadly disease. We look forward to expanding on this project in 2026 and reaching more provinces.

During 2025, we completed our third-annual mass vaccination drive in Cambodia. Teams took part in the ‘Dragon Challenge’ on the fourth day aiming to vaccinate over 10,000 dogs in one day. They successfully completed a record-breaking day, vaccinating 10,318 dogs, the highest that has ever been achieved on a Mission Rabies project.

In 2013 we started our mission in India and since then we have developed comprehensive vaccination, education and surveillance programmes in numerous states. In 2025, over 1 million dogs were vaccinated in India alone – a step in the right direction for rabies control in India where a third of all global rabies deaths take place.

Fighting rabies through education: 4,986,172 people educated on rabies prevention

In the fight against rabies knowledge is power. By providing communities with the tools to protect themselves rabies is 100% preventable. Our teams deliver our rabies education sessions directly to children in their school – teaching them about the risks of rabies, how to safely interact with dogs, and lifesaving first aid after a potential exposure. In rabies hotspots, these educational sessions could be the difference between life and death.

Alongside this, we spread awareness amongst community members about rabies, handing out our leaflets, and conducting community sessions, to ensure everyone knows how to protect themselves.

2025 has been a year of huge expansion for Malawi – with our teams now working in over half of the country. It was a record-breaking year with over 2 million children educated on rabies prevention, with our experienced team delivering our sessions directly into schools.

With fears rising over the spread of rabies in the world’s largest refugee settlement, Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, we jumped into action. Over 12,000 residents and school children were educated on rabies prevention during the four-day campaign. Wristbands, posters, loudspeakers and classroom sessions helped spread awareness of the dangers of rabies and how to safely interact with dogs.

During 2025, 1,245,594 children were rabies educated in India. One way we make our lessons are memorable is through demonstrations – in this image our team in India showed a classroom of children how to curl up like a ball to protect themselves if approached by an angry dog and asked them to act this out.

Rabies surveillance: Ready to respond to emergency

Rabies surveillance is an essential part in the mission to end rabies. We have established permanent in-country Integrated Bite Case Management (IBCM) teams in India, Cambodia, and Malawi. We run our rabies hotline where people can report potential rabies cases and exposures. Our teams catch, quarantine and test dogs suspected of rabies, ensure dog bite victims know the appropriate post-exposure steps to take, and organise emergency vaccination and education campaigns in response to outbreaks. Through our education sessions we inform people about our rabies hotline and hand out leaflets and cards with our hotline number to ensure people are aware of our surveillance programmes.

In September, our IBCM team in Malawi, identified positive canine rabies cases in multiple districts. Our team got straight to work to prevent further transmission. They conducted contact tracing to ensure any dog or human exposures were identified and first-aid advised. Our team travelled around communities where positive cases were found to educate people about rabies, the dangers, and signs to look out for. Lastly, door-to-door vaccination campaigns were organised to protect dogs and communities where these positive cases were discovered.

Looking ahead together

This year we have lots of exciting upcoming projects – continuing the work in our current project areas, while expanding into new areas.

Mumbai, India

Our team, alongside volunteers, are returning to Mumbai at the end of January for our annual mass vaccination drive. After a successful campaign last year, where 11,587 dogs were vaccinated, we are conducting another vaccination drive to protect local communities. Keep a look out for updates on this project.

Bangladesh

Following on from the success of our first campaign in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh in 2025, we are continuing our work in Bangladesh in 2026. During January, we are completing a vaccination campaign in the Chittagong District, in collaboration with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

New volunteering projects

We are thrilled for our new volunteering opportunities coming up in 2026 to Peru, Timor and Laos, as we expand our work in these areas and ask for the support of volunteers to help provide life-saving protection to communities. Register your interest to be the first to hear when applications open.

Help create a safer world for all

Every vaccine administered, every child educated and every rabies hotline call answered, is possible because of your support. With you by our side in 2026 we know amazing things are possible. Find out all the ways you can get involved.