Rabies awareness and prevention

Sindh currently operates hundreds of rabies prevention centres that offer free vaccines, available to anyone who simply walks in. Yet, despite this apparent vigilance, the province has already neared the tally for last year's rabies' deaths with four months still to go. In 2025, as many as 22 people lost their lives to rabies, and the tally this year so far has already climbed to 21.

The recent case of a 24-year-old from Qayyumabad, Karachi, highlights another aspect of this battle. The young man, after being bitten by a dog about two months prior his death, did not get post-exposure rabies vaccination and passed away soon after being brought to the hospital with the onset of symptoms.

Multiple health initiatives, such as the Sindh Rabies Control Programme, ensure that the public has access to free anti-rabies vaccines but oftentimes, either a lack of awareness or a lack of medical urgency become the leading causes for rabies deaths in Sindh. A large chunk of the population in the province does not fully comprehend the urgency and severity with which dog bites should be handled and are also uninformed about the ease with which the disease can be kept at bay.

It's ironic that the latest rabies victim, an 11-year-old boy from Sanghar, did receive vaccination "prior to reporting to the hospital". Dismally, several ineffective vaccination treatments also exist in the quack-medical-market which priorities profits over human lives.

The most important advice regarding rabies is to seek immediate medical attention from a credible healthcare facility and receive appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis, usually vaccines, after any risky contact with a dog including even a minor scratch. While Sindh should undoubtedly prioritise the humane Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release method, this practice should be posted at every street corner as a public health warning, so no further lives are lost, especially when prevention is highly accessible.