Sindh MPAs decry non-availability of ARVs amid rising dog-bite cases

Health minister says govt cannot import vaccine from India due to volatile situation

KARACHI: Given the rise in dog bite cases and the lack of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) in Sindh, lawmakers have suggested sending stray dogs to China. The suggestion came on Tuesday as the Sindh Assembly debated on a resolution moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Dr Seema Zia to ensure the availability of ARVs in all health centres and hospitals in the province.

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said that given the volatile situation in the wake of recent events in Kashmir, the Pakistani government cannot import ARVs from India. "In the past one year, around 92,000 rabies cases were reported in the province," said Dr Pechuho. "We normally import the vaccine from our neighbouring country but given the current situation it is not possible. Therefore we are looking for another option," she added.

PTI MPA Jamal Siddiqui, who recently survived a dog-bite, floated the idea of exporting stray dogs to our other neighbouring country. "The Chinese eat dog meat, so I suggest exporting stray dogs there," said Siddiqui.



PTI MPA Dr Imran Shah asked the health minister to import ARV from South America or China if it could not be obtained from India given the recent suspension of trade with the country.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA  Allah Bux Talpur, who belongs to Tando Muhammad Khan, said that stray dogs had made people's lives miserable and the government hospitals and basic health centres don't have stock of ARVs.

Meanwhile, Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MPA Mangla Sharma referred to a report on dog bite cases and said more cases have been reported in Larkana and Shaheed Benazirabad districts which are the hometowns of the PPP leadership. Around 12,000 cases were reported in Benazaribad, 4,000 cases in Shikarpur, 2,700 cases in Jacobabad, 7,000 cases in Dadu and a 1,000 cases were reported in Thatta during one year, she said citing the report.

Hearing this, PTI MPA Haleem Adil Shaikh cried foul. "It is very unfortunate that ARV is not even available in the health minister's constituency. I appeal to the government to please save the people of Sindh from dog and snake bites by providing the vaccinations on time," he said. After debate, the assembly adopted a resolution demanding the government to ensure the availability of ARV in all emergency centres and hospitals in the province. The session then adjourned till today (Wednesday).

Sindh archives dept

Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Information, Archives and Labour, Saeed Ghani, informed the assembly that the archives department is trying to update all historic record and is uploading all data online, so that people can easily access material and read it. "We have initiated five different schemes of Mohenjo Daro, Sukkur and Khairpur, among others, which will be completed by 2020," he said while responding to questions from lawmakers.

During the question and answer session, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) MPA Arif Mustafa Jatoi asked about the historical records of Kalhora and Talpur dynasty and suggested that Pakistan's history during British rule be made available in the libraries and archives department.  "The entire record of One Unit is lying in Punjab. What steps you have taken to bring it back," he asked.

Ghani said that the Sindh government has brought back many historic things from the United Kingdom and has preserved them in the National Museum.

Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani drew the minister's attention towards Shikarpur, which was once the gateway for South Asia and said, "The entire record is lying in Bombay Library since British time. You can bring it back too."

Referring to the total number of news publications in Sindh, Ghani said that there are around 734 publications in Sindh including dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies and monthlies. Elaborating on the issue, Ghani added that the number of daily publication stood at 413. He said that the government always wanted to financially support the low-circulated publications and this practice would continue in the future as well while adding that advertisements would only be given to those publications which were registered in the media list of the information department. The minister added that the circulation size of the publication was not a condition for any publication to be given government advertisements.



According to him, the provincial information department was working under a law promulgated in 2002, but after the passage of 18th Amendment a new law and policies needed to be formulated.

He said that the provincial government had drafted a law, but due to reservations expressed by a few journalist associations, a committee has been formed to address their concerns. "After a comprehensive consultation with journalists and media groups, a new bill will be presented in the assembly," he said.

Regarding the archives department which has rare documents, newspapers and official government records preserved, Ghani said that the department was doing a good job with state-of-art technology and fared better in comparison to other provincial governments.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2019.