NAROWAL: A young man died on Sunday two months after he was bitten by a stray dog.

Hafiz Muhammad Hamza, 20, a resident of Dinpur village in the vicinity of Shakargarh tehsil in Narowal district, was bitten by an allegedly rabid dog two months ago. He was taken to the Shakargarh THQ Hospital where a doctor checked him and prescribed some medicines.

The doctor told Hamza’s family that the rabies vaccine was not available at the hospital, so they would have to purchase it from the market.

Hamza’s father, labourer Ghulam Nabi, could not afford to buy the costly medicine due to coronavirus lockdown and the boy could not be treated on time. After two months, when he developed symptoms of rabies and his condition deteriorated, he was admitted to Mayo Hospital in Lahore. He was being treated for four days, but died on Sunday.

Locals and the relatives of Hamza protested against the non-availability of rabies vaccine at the Shakargarh THQ Hospital. The protesters accused officers of the health department of selling the vaccine at high rates in the market with mutual connivance.

They said: “The patients going to government hospitals are not given free medicines, and instead are asked to buy from the market.”

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2020