SWABI, Oct 5: The dog bite patients are faced with great difficulties in treatment owing to non-availability of anti-rabies vaccines (ARVs) in the district headquarters hospital, Shahmansoor Hospital Complex and other health facilities in Swabi, sources say. Sources in these hospitals confirmed that they were short of ARVs for the last few months and despite repeated reminders to the management of National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, the required number of injections was not provided.

The issue surfaced when a mad dog bit 16 persons in tehsil Topi on a single day. When the affected people visited the hospitals they were told that the vaccines were not available. The patients were advised to visit Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar or Islamabad for treatment.

“Due to non-availability of ARVs in the district hospitals I was forced to start treatment from NIH, Islamabad. Other patients were also compelled to visit hospitals in Peshawar and Islamabad for getting anti-rabies injections,” said Roohal Amin, who was bitten by the dog.

Sources said that there was no emergency arrangement to meet the need of people at local level and poor patients suffered at the hands of the health authority, who failed to acquire ARVs.

The non-availability of ARVs in Swabi hospitals and failure of Tehsil Municipal Administration to launch an anti-pye-dog campaign virtually sandwiched the patients, they added.

Health experts said that health department should be made responsible to look after the dog bite cases occurring in the district. In addition, the management of NIH should be approached conveying it the intensity of the cases, they added.

The patients appealed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health director general to take notice of the issue. They said that regular campaigns should be launched against pye-dog. They called for immediate start of an anti-pye-dog campaign throughout the district.

However, health officials said that they made various appeals to NIH and other officials concerned. They said that all the hospitals and basic health units would have ARVs very soon.