Doctors and administrators at government hospitals in Sindh’s capital, Karachi, and other parts of the province say there is an acute shortage of anti-rabies vaccines. These vaccines are, however, available on the open market. There is no denying that there is a shortage of anti-rabies vaccines in Sindh due to tension with India from where they are imported. The import has stopped because of the tension. Recently, the Sindh health minister said these vaccines were imported also from China. She said now since China had eliminated rabies, it had closed down factories that manufactured anti-rabies vaccines.
Meanwhile, the number of dog-bite cases in Karachi and other parts of the province is rising at an alarming rate. More than 25 dog-bite cases were reported to major hospitals in Karachi on a single day on Oct 14 alone. Liaquatabad topped the list of dog-bite cases. Around 25 victims of dog bite were brought to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, according to the RMO of the hospital. He said anti-rabies vaccine was not available at the hospital, so people bought it from outside. The main cause of the rise in dog-bite cases is an unstoppable increase in the population of stray dogs in cities, towns and villages of the province. People are demanding of the government to ensure the availability of anti-rabies vaccines at hospitals and to take action to control the population of stray dogs in both urban and rural areas. If victims of dog bite are not administered anti-rabies vaccines in time, they develop hydrophobia which leads to a miserable death. Time and again the authorities have been reminded of the serious situation but so far there is not much evidence that the needful is being done.
It is desirable to control the population of stray dogs by neutering them. However, the delay in taking the required measures once again point to incompetence and corruption. The situation shows incompetence is valued in government circles.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2019.
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