Provincial Minister for Health and Population Welfare, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho Friday said that the delay in the treatment of rabid dog-bite cases caused deaths in the province.
She said that National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad prepares anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) but the amount of production is not sufficient enough.
The precious time of the patients, infected from rabies encephalitis, a dog-borne viral illness, is wasted at their home in the treatment from unproven local remedies (totkay), she said. Every citizen and department need to make collective efforts for a rabies-free Sindh, she said.
"The widespread tropical disease, Leishmaniasis is endemic to Pakistan."
The lady minister was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the International Workshop on "New Anti-leishmanial Lead from Natural Sources: Concept and Approaches" held at the Prof. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui Auditorium. Scholars from 20 countries are participating in the international workshop jointly organized by Dr Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), University of Karachi (UoK) and the UK-based global Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) network.
Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman, Prime Minister's National Task Force on Science and Technology, Chairperson Dr. Panjwani Memorial Trust Nadira Panjwani, Chairman Husein Ebrahim Jamal Foundation Aziz Latif Jamal, Director ICCBS Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, Prof Dr Paul W. Denny of NTD, WHO representative Dr. Sara Salam, Prof. Dr. Tabbasum Mahboob, Dean Faculty of Science, and Dr. Sammer Yousuf also spoke on the occasion.
Dr. Pechuho said that dog bites in humans had become a public health problem worldwide. She said that rabid dog-bite cases were mishandled by the citizens, and come late to the hospitals. She added that the unwanted delay usually caused death to rabies-infected people.
To a query, she said that the anti-rabies vaccines were available in the public hospitals but not sufficient in amount. She said that dengue was endemic to the country, but as compared to other cities, the spread of dengue was under control in Karachi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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