KOHAT: A number of people bitten by stray dogs in different localities have urged the government to ensure availability of anti-rabies vaccine in all the hospitals and district health office here.

The patients were asked by doctors at the government hospitals to buy the vaccine from market whereas the vaccine should to be provided in every hospital because the poor could not buy it.

Fazal Rehman, a resident of old cattle market area, told this scribe that his 14-year-old son was bitten by mad dogs on his legs, but when he went to the emergency of Liaquat Memorial Hospital they were asked to buy the vaccine from bazaar. Similarly, three more people had been bitten by dogs in Bazaar Mustafa and old bus stand.

Paramedics Association president Rashid Bokhari told this scribe that on Friday last his niece was bitten by a dog in Junglekhel area and when they took her to LMH the vaccine was not available there.

However, the anti-rabies vaccine was administered to her in the KDA hospital. He said that the vaccine was costly and if not given within 14 days the germs turned into incurable rabies disease. He said that it should be made available in every hospital.

A local elder Malik Inayatullah said that the tehsil municipal administration had a separate shooting department for killing stray dogs, but it was not fulfilling its responsibility.

The same TMA staff was regularly killing dogs in the Kohat University of Science and Technology every six months on the complaint of its administration to protect its students.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2018