Ministry spends about Ks 14 billion to purchase rabies vaccines for three years

Ministry spends about Ks 14 billion to purchase rabies vaccines for three years
Published 8 May 2019

Ministry of Health and Sports spent about Ks 14 billion to purchase rabies vaccines and antibiotics during three years and vaccinated to 190,000 dog-bite patients in 2018, said Dr. Myint Htwe, Union Minister for Health and Sports.

“The number of deaths caused by rabies declined from 99 in 2016 to 70 in 2018. We don’t need rabies vaccines if there is no dog bites. We can reduce our budget spending. Our ministry can do nothing for dog bites. All groups including Department of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Science and the Development Affairs Committee need to cooperate to tackle the dog-bite problem,” the minister added.

The ministry plans to open dog-bite care centers in Yangon People’s Hospital, North Okkalapa Hospital, Insein Hospital and Thingangyun Hospital. According to the figures from the Public Health Departments in the regions and states, the number of dog bite patients reached 180,367 in 2017 and 192,619 in 2018.

The ministry has issued a directive to Intra-Dermal (ID) in the majority of public hospitals due to a shortage of rabies vaccines. The World Health Organization (WHO) encourages the countries to use cost-effective Intradermal (ID) rabies vaccination schedule.