Mismatch in data on rabies deaths poses major challenge, Pg12

Key Highlights:

• India faces a significant challenge in rabies elimination due to a major mismatch in reported mortality data.
• A community-based study by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE) estimated 5,726 annual rabies deaths in India.
• This contrasts sharply with government surveillance systems, which reported 54 rabies deaths in 2024.
• India accounts for an estimated 35% of global rabies deaths, highlighting its substantial contribution to the worldwide burden.
• The country aims to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies by 2030 under the National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE).

Detailed Insights:

• The Union Health Ministry data shows 55 malaria, 131 dengue, and 27 kala-azar deaths in 2025, but lacks a comparable national measure for rabies mortality.
• The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme-Integrated Health Information Platform (IDSP-IHIP) reported 21, 50, and 54 rabies deaths in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.
• The Registrar-General of India’s Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) system recorded 66 and 271 medically certified rabies deaths in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
• These government datasets are not directly comparable as IDSP-IHIP is a surveillance system, while MCCD captures medically certified causes through civil registration, covering only a fraction of registered deaths.
• The ICMR-NIE study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, surveyed over 3.3 lakh people across 15 states and used a probability decision-tree model to arrive at its estimate.
• The vast discrepancy between the estimated 5,726 deaths and the 54 reported by government surveillance in 2024 underscores the challenge in rabies eradication efforts.
• Lack of consolidated and accurate data hinders effective public health interventions and monitoring progress towards the 2030 elimination target.
• The National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP), implemented by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), focuses on the human health component of rabies control.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme-Integrated Health Information Platform (IDSP-IHIP): A disease surveillance system used by the Union Health Ministry to track various diseases.
• Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD): A system under the Registrar-General of India that records medically certified causes of death through civil registration.
• National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE) by 2030: India's strategic plan to achieve zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by the year 2030.
• One Health Approach: A collaborative, multi-sectoral, and trans-disciplinary approach to achieve optimal health outcomes by recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.