title: Outcomes of a school-based intervention on rabies prevention among school children in rural Sri Lanka.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Sri Lanka, one of the major challenges in rabies control is to manage the dog population and subsequently to protect people, especially young children, from dog bites.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2009, an educational-entertainment campaign called 'Rabies Edutainment 4 Kids' was introduced in the school curricula in rural Sri Lanka to improve practices on rabies prevention and pet care among school children, and to evaluate its effectiveness through pre- and post-tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The level of rabies knowledge, attitude and practice among the pupils was dependent on their responses to a survey, and scores were significantly improved both among the study and control groups after the intervention. A lecture accompanied by a rabies awareness leaflet was much more effective in improving knowledge than the leaflet alone. The type of intervention and language used was significantly associated with the score increment (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The threat of rabies to pupils in Sri Lanka would be reduced if they are given appropriate information on rabies prevention as a part of the school curricula. Close collaboration with local education offices is key to successful implementation of school-based rabies control programmes, which is, in turn, crucial to the eradication of rabies from Sri Lanka.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Obayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Ananda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jayasinghe
authors.affiliation: Rabies Control Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: G S P de S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Gunawardena
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: N Y
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Delpitiya
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: N G W
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Priyadarshani
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Chandika D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Gamage
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: Asuna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health and Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan tamashiro@med.hokudai.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tamashiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057805:Pets; D011818:Rabies / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011819:Rabies Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012424:Rural Population; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013188:Sri Lanka
chemical_list: D011819:Rabies Vaccines
keywords: Awareness programme; Edutainment; Intervention; Rabies; School children; Sri Lanka