ABSTRACT:
Rabies remains a critical public health challenge in many low- and middle-income countries, including indonesia.¹ While rabies awareness campaigns are widely implemented, children with disabilities, particularly deaf students, are often excluded due to communication barriers and limited access to inclusive health education materials.² This exclusion reduces equitable access to life-saving information and increases vulnerability among marginalized populations. This study reports findings from an inclusive rabies awareness campaign implemented at tunas kasih 2, a special school for deaf students in bogor city, west java province, indonesia. The intervention adapted rabies health communication using visual-based learning, simplified messaging, and sign language-supported facilitation tailored to deaf students at elementary, junior, and senior school levels. Educational activities included interactive presentations, videos, quizzes, and games. Program effectiveness was assessed using a pre- and post-test consisting of five key questions on rabies definition, transmission, and appropriate responses to animal bites. Prior to the intervention, only 35% of participating students answered the questions correctly, indicating limited baseline knowledge. Following a three-hour inclusive education session, correct responses increased to 85%, representing a 50 percentage-point improvement in knowledge. The activity engaged more than 60 participants, including deaf students, teachers, and parents. Teachers and parents reported increased confidence in reinforcing rabies prevention messages in school and home settings. This case study demonstrates that disability-inclusive health communication is feasible and effective in improving rabies awareness among deaf students. The intervention strengthened multi-stakeholder collaboration involving the ministry of agriculture, the indonesian animal health industry association, the bogor city food security and agriculture office, and the australia–indonesia research partnership koneksi. Inclusive communication strategies offer a scalable model for integrating disability inclusion into zoonotic disease prevention programs and advancing equity in public health.