November 24, 2001	Saturday	Ramazan 8, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: The number of stray dogs has increased in Kabul, causing frequent incidents of rabies, the World Health Organization (WHO) said here the other day.

Speaking at a news conference, WHO spokesperson Lori Heiber Grardet said increasing incidents of rabid dog bite were being observed in conflict zones. “In 99 per cent cases, rabies is fatal and this is a serious concern of WHO in Kabul.”

Replying to a question, she said the WHO had increased the supply of anti-rabies vaccines to city, and added that WHO planned to vaccinate those, who were handling the dogs in the capital of Afghanistan.

Briefing newsmen about the general state of health in the city, Grardet said the five hospitals of city were in deplorable conditions due to lack of basic health facilities.

“The hospitals in Kabul do not have ambulances and the staff have not been paid for the past five months, resulting in lack of motivation to work, critical shortage of medicines and qualified health professionals.”

She said the WHO would provide 50 million tonnes of essential medicines to Afghanistan.

Answering another question, she said at present there was no particular epidemic in the country, but WHO was concerned about wide scale incidents of pneumonia due to cold and prevalence of different respiratory diseases.