DOG-BITE is an old problem in Pakistan. Amid a surfeit of public health challenges, rabies now seems poised to become an epidemic. Incidents of dog attacks have shot up recently, claiming 10 lives in two months at two Karachi hospitals, with “over 230 cases of injuries by undomesticated dogs reported on two consecutive days at the Civil Hospital this week”. The hospital receives more than 1,000 dog-bite cases per month, the JPMC logged some 2,400 patients in recent times and the Indus Hospital’s Rabies Prevention and Training Centre saw over 3,000 new cases this year. Last year, 35,000 cases were recorded by the National Institute of Health. These numbers should set alarm bells ringing, as the scourge extends beyond Sindh. According to media reports, Peshawar recorded 15,574 dog-bite cases in the first quarter of 2023 and inoculated 1,500 stray dogs, whereas Punjab’s pye-dog population exceeds 460,000. And official figures show 1,480 cases in Azad Kashmir, 3,138 in Balochistan, 12,257 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine in Gilgit-Baltistan and three in Islamabad.

Despite a Special Branch report released in 2019, which exposed the acute dearth of anti-rabies vaccines in Punjab, preventive action has been insignificant. A more tragic aspect is that a majority of victims make the journey from rural recesses to cities for treatment; often their lack of awareness turns fatal with the prolonged use of traditional potions, and by the time they make it to hospital, the damage is too far gone. Therefore, authorities must swing into action with awareness drives, ramp up vaccination and sterilisation and strengthen the Trap Neuter Vaccinate and Return programme for feral dogs. Rabies spread is a ‘mammal to mammal’ phenomenon and health officials are clear that the immunisation of 70pc of street dogs can avert an impending crisis. But none of these measures will come to pass if basic health units remain devoid of emergency apparatus.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024