PESHAWAR: The unavailability of anti-rabies vaccine at the government hospitals across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has endangered the life of the people bitten by dogs.

As the execution of its plan to contract a company to supply the vaccine is facing delay, the health department has directed the district health officers and medical superintendents of district headquarters hospitals to make the purchase from the market on its own.

However, they aren’t reluctant to act accordingly fearing action by the National Accountability Bureau over ‘anomalies’ as happened in the past, sources told Dawn.

Officials say DHOs not buying injection from market despite health dept’s instructions

They said the health department had forfeited the bidding security deposited by a Karachi-based firm, who had won the injection supply contract but failed to ensure supply.

“The selection of new bidder will take time,” an official told Dawn.

The official said the district health authorities were empowered by the rules to purchase the vaccine on their own.

He said anti-rabies vaccine wasn’t available in any district health office or district headquarters hospital except Peshawar’s, only which was giving it away to the dog bite victims coming in from all districts, especially Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera and Swabi.

The official said the Peshawar DHO had purchased the injection in large quantity a year ago.

“We think that adherence to the prescribed procedure won’t invite any trouble for them (DHO and MS),” he said.

Other officials said the district hospitals purchased expensive medicines from the market using powers granted by Rule 10 of the KP Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, but since the anti-rabies vaccine was needed by the poor people, they weren’t bothered to do so for it.

They said the rules allowed the purchase of any medicines worth Rs50,000, including anti-rabies vaccine, through a single quotation, while the medicines valuing up to Rs100,000 could be bought from the market through three quotations.

The officials said the anti-rabies vaccine had been included in the medical coordination committee’s list of medicines, which could be purchased by the DHOs from the market under the rules.

Last month, the provincial director general (health) asked all DHOs to purchase the anti-rabies vaccine from the market after the Peshawar DHO complained that people bitten by dogs were coming in from other districts for treatment and therefore, the vaccine stock available with him could run out to the misery of local population.

The directives didn’t draw any action prompting the people to continue visiting Peshawar for anti-rabies treatment.

The officials feared that Peshawar’s vaccine stock would last a month.

They said the DHOs and MS of the relevant districts would be held responsible for any untoward incident.

The officials said all hospitals and DHOs had told to make that vaccine freely available either through local purchase or by following Rule 10 of the KPPRA, where had outlined alternative purchase methods.

Meanwhile, the people bitten by dogs complained about the unavailability of vaccine, which they need five times within first 28 days of the dog attack.

The doctors said all such wounds, even of minor nature, should be monitored to see signs of infection and that every person with dog bite history should be subjected to compulsory vaccination otherwise there was certain death.

“The vaccine is not available even in the local market. I have been purchasing it at the exorbitant rate of Rs1,500 per vaccine from a drugstore near Hayatabad Medical Complex though it is normally sold at Rs700,” said Naeem Ahmad, whose student son was bitten by a dog.

He said he had searched for the injection across the city, but to no avail as it was not available even in the leading drugstores.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2018