In the United States, health care professionals need refresher education about rabies because they hardly ever see it in people. Here in Afghanistan, health care professionals need training because they lack access to information sources like the Internet, libraries and that sort of thing.

Health care professionals play an important role in any rabies control and prevention program because they treat people who have been bitten by rabid animals.

Upwards of 99 percent of human rabies cases in Afghanistan are caused by bites from rabid dogs. If those victims get treatment at all, it's probably going to be from one of those health care professionals.

Educating health professionals is only one aspect of an effective rabies control and prevention program.

The key to any rabies control program is immunizing at least 70 percent of the dog population. The rabies control program here is just the beginning and must be carried farther out. I may also stress the importance of transferring the program entirely into the hands of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Rabies control and prevention programs are what governments do; it's an essential service. This is something we're helping them start, but it's something the Afghan government will have to carry on and expand.