Project spotlight: Malawi’s journey to a safer future

Back in 2015, our work started in Blantyre, after a hospital recorded more child rabies deaths than any other institution in Africa. We started working in southern Malawi vaccinating dogs to break the cycle of transmission and keep people and animal safe. Ten years on and this work has expanded into so much more.  

The rabies issue in Malawi  

Rabies remains in much of the world, especially affecting the poorest and most vulnerable communities. The highest amount of rabies cases comes from Asia and Africa. In these areas rabies vaccinations and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) are often not easily accessible and are unaffordable for the majority of people. When someone is bitten by a dog, it is vital to receive PEP, but the human rabies vaccine is often inaccessible due to distance or cost, meaning people are unable to receive this crucial healthcare. At the same time, veterinary care is often limited, with animal populations often becoming out of control. This leads to heightened risk of diseases spreading to other animals and people, like rabies.

Malawi remains one of the world’s poorest countries and rabies has placed a huge burden on the country. The start of our fight to end rabies in Malawi dates back 2015, when we started to work with the government to set up vaccination, education and surveillance programmes.

Our work in Malawi 

Malawi has become one of our flagship projects, as we have established permanent in-country teams, working in collaboration with local governments and valued partners. This project has come to demonstrate how effective rabies control can be implemented at scale and create a measurable improvement to the lives of the local community, with both human and canine rabies cases being reduced in the areas which we work. 

Vaccination 

Infected dog bites are the main cause of rabies deaths in people. Mass dog vaccination programmes are proven to be the most effective way to control the spread of rabies. We run annual vaccination programmes to provide life-saving protection to communities in Malawi. To achieve herd immunity within a dog population and stop the disease in its track, it is crucial that at least 70% of dogs are vaccinated. It is through free annual rabies vaccinations that we are able to control rabies outbreaks in these areas, keeping dogs and people safe.  

Throughout April and May 2025, we completed our 11th Blantyre city campaign. The first step in this campaign was sensitisation to raise awareness about the upcoming vaccination drive. Fliers, posters and radio announcements were made, along with media coverage. Over five weekends, 83 static point vaccination clinics were set up, with 13 teams working tireless to vaccinate dogs. This was a great success with 22,860 dogs receiving their life-saving rabies vaccination and the team achieving a vaccination coverage of 86.3%. 

Children and community members waiting for dog vaccinations during Blantyre City campaign.  

Education 

Education is crucial in the mission to end rabies – if the risks are widely understood and appropriate dog bite treatment is well known – rabies is 100% preventable. Our education sessions are empowering people with the knowledge to protect themselves from bites, prevent rabies and save lives. We deliver our education lessons directly to children in their classes and assemblies, teaching them about rabies and the steps to avoid rabies infection. Alongside this, we also extend training to teachers, who go onto teach about rabies prevention to children at their schools. The ‘train the trainer’ model ensures that we can reach even more children and schools with these vital messages.  

Children receiving our education flyers which have further information on rabies prevention, including our free rabies hotline number.

We also deliver our education outreach to the wider public, with our team in Malawi regularly running rabies education sessions at health centres and other community locations. It is crucial to create communities who know how to protect themselves from rabies and who act to support rabies control.  

Our team demonstrating to children how to wash a dog bite wound with water and soap - a crucial first step in preventing rabies which can significantly reduce the risk of infection. 

To date, we have educated 5,844,078 children and trained 86,914 teachers across Malawi. 

Surveillance 

In Malawi we have established a sustainable surveillance programme with our Integrated Bite Case Management (IBCM) team, along with a free rabies hotline. Members of the public can phone our team to report any potential rabid dogs and dog bites cases. Our team are always ready to act, ensuring community members know the first aid steps to take and where they can receive PEP after a rabies exposure. We also quarantine and test suspected rabid animals and conduct emergency response vaccination campaigns. 

In April, our team responded to a call in Machinjiri of a potential rabid dog. The team tested the dog, and it came back positive for rabies. We conducted contact tracing in the community and found a shocking 45 human exposures. The team ensured that all of these human exposures received their life-saving post-exposure rabies vaccinations at a local clinic. This demonstrates the critical importance of rabies surveillance in protecting human lives. 

Expansion in 2025 

This year has been a huge year for our teams in Malawi. We are now working in over half of the country; with 15 out of 28 districts in Malawi benefiting from our vaccination, education and surveillance programmes. In 2025, our teams will be covering the whole Southern region and some of the Central region. Some of the new districts we have added this year include Mangochi, Machinga, Ntcheu and Dedza. We look forward to expanding our work as we work towards a rabies-free Malawi. 

Lake Malawi vaccination campaign 

In July 2025, we completed a vaccination and sterilisation campaign in Lake Malawi. Our 11 vaccination teams, made up of local staff and international volunteers, travelled to different communities in Cape Maclear to set up static point vaccination clinics. While international volunteers and staff from the WVS Malawi clinic set up sterilisation clinics to spay and neuter dogs in the community – working to create a healthier, more stable dog population. Mangochi, located on Lake Malawi, is estimated to have a dog population of 13,000 with an average of 50 bites cases a month. We organised this campaign to protect these communities against this deadly disease.

During five-day campaign, 3,524 animals were vaccinated, and 105 animals were sterilised. Through the delivery of Animal Birth Control and vaccination programmes, animals and the whole community benefit – together they create a safe and stable dog population, which is the best way to reduce canine and human rabies deaths.  

Do you want to get involved in our life-saving mission? 

We are currently recruiting volunteers to join us in November for a mass dog vaccination campaign in Kerala, India. Find out more and sign up here! If you would like to know about our future volunteering opportunities, register your interest to be the first to hear when applications open.

Interested in providing treatment rather than vaccinations? Veterinary professionals can volunteer at the WVS clinic in Blantyre to support our team with providing accessible veterinary care to animals in need. Find out more.