• Health dept spent Rs1.7bn on vaccine project between 2012 and 2023, meeting told
• 54,000 cases of snakebite reported in province every year: livestock DG
• Says only NIH Islamabad produces anti-venom vaccine

KARACHI: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly was informed on Thursday that around 54,000 cases of snakebite are reported every year in the province, but the government is still awaiting an anti-venom vaccine for which it had spent hefty funds since 2012.

During a meeting of the PAC, it was revealed that the provincial health department had spent Rs1.7 billion between 2012 and 2023 on developing an anti-snake venom vaccine, but to no avail, and the project was transferred to the livestock department in 2024.

The meeting, chaired by PAC Chairman Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, was told that the provincial government had released Rs350 million to the livestock department for the preparation of a vaccine against snakebite; however, not a single dose had been prepared from 2024 to 2025.

The meeting, attended among others by Livestock Secretary Kazim Jatoi and Director General (DG) Dr Nazir Hussain Kalhoro, reviewed the audit reports of the livestock department for the years 2024 and 2025.

The PAC was informed that the Sindh Institute of Animal Health, under the livestock department, had approved a tender worth Rs300m for the purchase of machinery and other equipment from Germany, Switzerland and the United States to prepare a vaccine against snakebite within a year.

The DG livestock told the PAC that there were “55 types of snakes”, out of which “13 were poisonous and seven of them were deadly”, including cobras and two-mouthed snakes.

He said around 54,000 snakebite cases were reported in Sindh every year; however, due to the “low” presence of deadly snakes, the annual death rate was estimated to be “between 500 and 1,000”.

However, he added, the exact death toll could only be confirmed by the health department.

The DG further informed the committee that at present, only the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad was preparing a vaccine against snakebite, from which only “4,000” doses were provided to the Sindh Health Department — an amount described as “very low”.

He said the livestock department would prepare a vaccine against snakebite within a year.

The DG told the PAC that the Rs2.8bn Annual Development Programme (ADP) scheme for the preparation of an anti-snake venom vaccine was launched in 2012, under which Rs1.7bn had been released to the health department.

However, he said, the project was handed over to the livestock department in 2024 with release of Rs350m.

The DG livestock said some horses and snakes had also been purchased for the preparation of the vaccine, adding that the anti-snake venom vaccine would be developed using snake venom and blood samples from horses.

The audit department raised objections in its report that the livestock department had also been unable to prepare the PPR vaccine, which protects sheep and goats from Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), and the FMD (foot and mouth disease) vaccine, to prevent epidemic diseases in animals, due to which the animal mortality rate had reached 70 per cent.

The livestock secretary told the PAC that the PPR vaccine had been prepared, while the FMD vaccine was still under preparation.

The PAC directed the livestock department to take vigorous steps for the immediate preparation of a vaccine against snakebites in the province.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2025