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| Tuesday, 14 September 2004 |
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Health authorities will review the national anti-rabies program amidst reports of an increase in number of rabies cases. A high level meeting chaired by Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva will be held next week in this regard, a Ministry spokesman told the Daily News yesterday. He said the meeting will be attended by experts and senior officials of the Ministry. However, officials said there was an increase in rabies cases during the last few months."Nearly 51 people had died due to rabies during this year so far." He attributed this to the shortage of anti-rabies vaccines at Government hospitals and the dogs' vaccinations for the last three months. "The shortage of anti-rabies vaccine at Government hospitals led to this situation." According to reports, nearly 2000 dog bites are reported annually. "Treating such patients is a heavy burden on the Government as one patient has to be given a series of vaccines with each costing Rs 1500." He said nearly 12 per cent of country's annual health budget is spent on treating patients infected with rabies. Officials said the killing of stray dogs had also become difficult due to campaigns launched by animal lovers and animal rights organisations. "Due to protest from animal lovers, people do not like to kill stray dogs. So we are now compelled to find an alternative." The Ministry now focuses more on vaccinating dogs against rabies. However, the shortage of qualified veterinary surgeons has also affected the Ministry's vaccination program. "There are only 50 qualified veterinary surgeons (in the Government sector) and they cannot cope with the present dogs population." Official said the Ministry now plans to review its anti-rabies campaign to find a more cost-effective and productive program. |
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