JPMC sets up special ward for dog-bite cases

Amid no campaign to control stray dogs, incidents of dog-bites rise across the city

KARACHI: A special ward has been set up at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) hospital to deal with dog-bite incidents that have become common in many areas of the city.

According to JPMC Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali, around 20 to 25 dog-bite cases are reported daily at different city hospitals. In the past year,more than 6,300 dog-bite cases were reported in Jinnah hospital alone. In the past one-and-a-half month, more than 80 dog-bite incidents have been reported. This year, within a four month span, six people have died due to rabies caused because of a stray dog bite at Jinnah hospital.

Dr Jamali said that to contain the dog-bite incidents, immediate measures were needed and the city's municipal bodies must wake up to address this issue.

The number of dog-bite incidents has increased with the rise in the population of stray dogs on the streets, but local authorities have failed to launch any campaign to eliminate this menace.

A mad dog bit 12 people in Korangi 5 on August 12 while 13 people were bitten by a stray dog in Landhi 2 on August 30 and five people in Korangi 5 on September 9 and 10 people in another area of Korangi on September 19 became victims of dog-bites. Furthermore, 20 children were bitten by a mad stray dog while playing outside in Korangi 2 and 10 people, including four men and three women who were taken to the hospital for immediate treatment and given vaccination, in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase I on October 1.

Residents fearing the increase in the population of stray dogs in the city regret that no action was being taken to eliminate stray dogs.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2018.