DADU, March 11: Government hospitals and health centres have been facing a shortage of anti-rabies vaccine in the district for last one month. A survey conducted by this correspondent revealed that there was an acute shortage of ARV in different hospitals and health centres.

Taluka Hospital Sehwan MS Dr Moin Qureshi said ARV was not available in the hospital for last 30 days hence doctors were unable to treat dog bite victims. He said only one vial was supplied to the hospital while one vial was needed for one patient.

Dr Qureshi said there was a requirement of five vials of ARV to every Taluka hospital keeping in view the dog bite cases. He said the ARV vaccine was administered seven days continuously which costs Rs3,500 to a patient.

Dr Qurban Siyal of the Khairpur Nathan Shah Taluka Hospital said that two to three cases of dog bite were reported daily. Dr Hidayatullah of the Taluka Hospital Mehar said patients were refereed to other hospitals due to the ARV shortage.

The condition was not different in Johi, Thano Bula Khan taluka hospitals, Dadu civil hospital, Bhan Saeedabad, Sita Road, Radhan, Thariri Mohabbat, Fareedabad, Phakka, Manjhand, Sann and Unarpur health centres.

There is a shortage of ARV at private medical stores also in the wake of increasing number of cases in the district. When contacted Taluka Nazim Dadu Zafar Ali Shah said the shortage of ARV was a serious matter and the government should release funds on emergency basis for provision of vaccine in the hospitals.

District Naib Nazim Zahid Jatoi said he had written to President Gen Pervez Musharraf, Sindh governor and chief minister to provide ARV in different hospitals of the district.

He appealed to the oil and gas companies working in the district to provide ARV to the hospitals. A victim, Aijaz Mallah, 12, said he was bitten by a dog some two weeks ago. When he visited the civil hospital Dadu for treatment, he was informed that the ARV was not available at the hospital.

Another victim Gulzar Korai of the Wapda colony Khairpur Nathan Shah said after incident he was taken to Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Dadu but came back without medical treatment as ARV was not available in the government run hospitals.

TEACHERS: Teachers of secondary schools boycotted examinations of 9th and 10th classes in the district to press their demands. Meanwhile, a large number of primary teachers held a demonstration on Thursday to protest against the non-acceptance of their demands.