Shopian, October 18: The rabies patients visiting district hospital and sub-district hospital in Shopian are being compelled to buy the anti-rabies vaccines (ARV’s) at private clinics as the two major hospitals here have run out of the said vaccines, which are administered free of cost to patients..
Locals here told Kashmir Images that they have to visit hospitals of other districts to buy the vaccines as the same is not available at district hospital Shopian and sub- district hospital Zainapora.
One of the residents of Shopian district, Zahid Ahmad Sheikh, said: “Two days ago my sister was bitten by a dog and when we took her to a nearby hospital located at Zainapora, the medical staff at the hospital told us to get the vaccine from district hospital Anantnag as no ARV was available at the hospital at that time.”
Another patient’s husband, Ab Sattar, told Kashmir Images that his wife was recently bitten by a dog and after taking her to sub-district hospital Zainapora, the medical staff informed him that no AVR was available at the hospital. “The hospital authorities told me that they are going to arrange an ambulance for my wife so that to get the vaccination done at some other district. Instead of providing the transport facility, the authorities should ensure the availability of anti-rabies-vaccines,” he added.
A resident of Chitragam village in Shopian district, Mohd Ayoub, had a similar story to narrate as he said that his cattle was bitten by a dog and after visiting all the hospitals in the Shopian district he could not get an AVR for the cattle and then he travelled to Pulwama for buying the same at a private medical store.”
When contacted Block Medical Officer (BMO) Shopian, Dr Sajad, he said that there is a shortage of ARV’s in the Shopian district, however, he claimed that health department has been purchasing it from the market. “We cannot purchase the anti-rabies-vaccines in bulk from the market as it is very costly. Last year, we received the supply of ARV’s but this year we have not received the supply yet,” he added.
Meannhile, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Shopian said that they have directed all the hospital authorities in the district to ensure the availability of the AVR’s for the patients.
