PESHAWAR: The Peshawar district health office has asked the director-general health services to ensure availability of anti-rabies vaccine in the neighbouring districts so that patients from these areas stop visiting health facilities in provincial metropolis for dog bite vaccination.

In a letter on Monday, the Peshawar district health officer said that the office received people with dog bite wounds from Nowshera, Charsadda and Mardan because the injections were not available there, according to sources.

The letter said that medical teaching institutions in Peshawar including Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) should be asked to procure the injections for people visiting accidents and emergency departments.

Peshawar DHO treats dog bite victims from neighbouring areas

Patients visiting MTIs with dog bite injuries were referred to district health office for vaccination owing to which the latter may not be able to provide it to the population of Peshawar.

“We can run out of stock within few days if people continue coming from outside districts,” said the letter.

It said that they had stock enough only for target population but load of patients from other districts was likely to affect the locals if the respective districts and teaching hospitals didn’t buy vaccine for their people.

Peshawar receives approximately 100 such patients daily and 40 per cent of them are not local residents.

The letter said that keeping in view the flow of patients, directives should be issued to KTH, LRH and HMC not to refer cases of dog bit to DHO.

The MTIs had enough budget to buy the injection unlikely DHO that had limited resources and could not purchase more medicines, it added.

The letter said that medical coordination council of health department had approved list of medicines for hospitals that also included anti-rabies vaccine and district health officers and medical superintendents were authorised to purchase the same for safety of the affected people.

Former health secretary Abid Majeed had issued a letter to all the hospitals to procure vaccine and safeguard people in view of more incidents. However, for the last few months, the only destination of such patients has been the district health office.

The dog-bitten people, who need to take five injections within first 28 days of the incident, totally bank on Peshawar. The market is short of the medicine too.

The health experts said that all such wounds, even of minor nature, should be monitored to see signs of infection. They said that each and every person with dog bite history should be subjected to compulsory vaccination otherwise there was certain death.

Doctors at the hospitals said that town committees were required to eliminate wild dogs and bury them properly. They said that population of dogs was on the rise. “Dogs attack women, children and old people, especially in rural areas.

However, there is an increased awareness among the people regarding significance of vaccination for staying safe from rabies and even with small bruises from contacts with dogs, they get vaccine for protection,” they added.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2018