LARKANA: Acute shortage of life-saving anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) has forced the poor patients to procure it from the open market, causing tremendous hardships to them in saving their precious lives. As many as 4,808 dog bite cases were reported in the first six months of 2019 from January to June in four taluka of Larkana district for which only 6356 vials were supplied. According to the breakup, 2174 dog bite cases were reported in Larkana Taluka during the past six months, 1184 in Ratodero, 486 in Dokri and 984 in Bakrani taluka. According to the data obtained on Friday, the total cost of the vaccines is Rs 54,83,200 (each vial cost is Rs 800) and cost of disposable syringes comes to Rs 1,30,400 (each syringe cost is Rs 10). Last year in 2018 as many as 35,790 cases were reported at the Centre including follow up cases.

Source: Pakistan Today July 19, 2019 15:45 UTC