Since 2017, Goa has reported no human deaths from rabies. Through sustained dog vaccination, surveillance, and community engagement, the state has done something once considered impossible in my country, India: it has interrupted the transmission of one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases.

This achievement did not happen overnight. It began in 2013 with a pilot initiative by Mission Rabies, which later expanded into a state-wide programme combining large-scale dog vaccination, disease surveillance, rapid response, and public awareness. By maintaining dog vaccination coverage above the critical threshold needed to interrupt transmission, Goa demonstrated that rabies elimination is not the result of a breakthrough technology but of sustained commitment and coordination. Unfortunately, the current picture in India isn’t equally positive.

If Goa can do it, why are people elsewhere in India still dying from rabies?

The answer is not that we lack vaccines, knowledge, or technology. India already possesses all three. The problem is that prevention remains uneven. Where Goa built an integrated system linking veterinary services, public health, and communities, much of the country continues to rely on fragmented responses that begin only after someone has been bitten.

That gap has devastating consequences. Earlier this year, a young bank employee in Kalyan (Maharashtra state) died from suicide after fearing he had developed rabies following a dog bite. He had started post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) but never completed the recommended course. Around the same time, a Right to Information request revealed that at least 18 rabies deaths had occurred in Delhi since 2022, despite official claims of zero fatalities. These are not isolated tragedies. They expose a deeper reality: India continues to lose lives to a disease that is almost entirely preventable.

Moreover, the scale of the problem is far greater than these individual stories suggest. A nationwide community-based survey conducted between 2022 and 2023 across 60 districts in 15 states, covering more than 337,000 individuals, estimated that India experiences nearly 9.1 million animal bites every year, with dogs accounting for the vast majority. More concerning was what happened after the bite: one in five dog-bite victims did not receive anti-rabies vaccination, and among those who started treatment, many failed to complete the full course. For a disease that is almost 100% preventable when timely treatment is received, these are not simply missed appointments, they are missed opportunities to save lives.

Why does Rabies still win too often?

Preventable rabies deaths persist because behavioural, health-system, and veterinary gaps reinforce one another. Many bite victims delay washing wounds, rely on traditional remedies, or discontinue treatment because of travel costs, misconceptions, or the false reassurance that a few injections are sufficient.

Recent cases reported from across the country reveal these cracks in the system. Early 2026, a 12-year-old boy from Bhiwandi (also in Maharashtra state) died three weeks after being attacked by a stray dog despite receiving three doses of anti-rabies vaccine. Reports indicated that he was referred repeatedly between hospitals because of the severity of his injuries. A year earlier, a six-year-old girl from Maharashtra’s Thane also died following a dog bite despite seeking medical care.

Taken together, these incidents are not isolated failures but symptoms of deeper systemic weaknesses. Delays in referral, interruptions in access to vaccines and rabies immunoglobulin, and poor coordination between healthcare facilities can compromise the timely delivery of post-exposure prophylaxis. At the same time, weak coordination between municipal bodies, veterinary services, and public health authorities continues to undermine efforts to control stray dog populations and prevent exposure in the first place.

A twofold challenge

The challenge is therefore twofold: preventing bites through effective dog vaccination and animal management, while ensuring that every bite victim receives complete, timely, and standardized care. When either part of this chain breaks down, the consequences are often fatal.

As clearly, treating bite victims is only half the solution. Rabies is fundamentally a disease of dogs, and as long as the virus continues circulating in canine populations, hospitals will remain occupied treating people after exposure rather than preventing exposure in the first place. Breaking this cycle requires sustained dog vaccination, responsible animal population management, and close collaboration between veterinary services, municipal authorities, and public health agencies an approach widely recognised as One Health. Unfortunately, such coordination remains the exception rather than the norm across much of the country.

And then there’s the fear

Rabies carries another burden that is rarely measured: fear. Few diseases evoke as much anxiety because once symptoms appear, survival is exceptionally rare. For someone who has been bitten, every fever, headache, or sore throat can become a source of panic. The tragedy in Kalyan illustrates how fear, misinformation, and incomplete treatment can combine with devastating consequences. Eliminating rabies therefore requires more than vaccines and surveillance. It also requires counselling, public education, and confidence that timely treatment works.

Way forward: scaling success across India

Goa has already shown what is possible, but it is not the only state making progress. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Sikkim have all strengthened rabies prevention through expanded access to post-exposure prophylaxis, improved surveillance, and targeted dog vaccination initiatives. Tamil Nadu has integrated anti-rabies services into primary healthcare and medical college networks, while Kerala has intensified public awareness and response systems following recent surges in dog bites. Sikkim has demonstrated that coordinated dog vaccination and population management are achievable even in smaller states. Although encouraging, these efforts remain uneven and fragmented, however. What distinguishes Goa is not simply that it acted, but that it sustained and integrated its efforts over time.

If India is serious about eliminating rabies, the next step is thus not discovering new solutions but implementing the ones that already exist. That means strengthening surveillance so that every rabies exposure and death is accurately recorded, ensuring uninterrupted availability of vaccines and rabies immunoglobulin, sustaining mass dog vaccination, investing in public education on wound washing and completion of PEP, and providing counselling so that fear does not become another preventable consequence of a dog bite.

Rabies sits at the intersection of human health, animal health, governance, and public trust. India already possesses the vaccines, scientific evidence, and successful models needed to eliminate it. What remains is the political commitment to implement these measures consistently across every state.

Goa has already answered the question of whether rabies can be eliminated in India – it can. The challenge now is ensuring that its success becomes the national norm rather than the exception. Because in the fight against rabies, the goal cannot simply be zero deaths on paper. It must be zero deaths in reality and zero fear for every person seeking care after a bite.