Rajhmundary, April 07: Dogs only bite them but people are virtually killed by scarcity of anti-rabies and tissue culture vaccines at government hospitals, uncaring staff and an indifferent government.
The death of a 10-year-old girl, Anusha, at the government hospital here on Wednesday is the latest example of the state of things in the district. She was bitten by a dog on March 25 and her mother took her immediately to the hospital.
They were sent back home by the doctors, citing nil stock of the anti-rabies vaccine. The hapless and worried mother took the girl to a private doctor who administered a TT injection to the girl. TT injection being no remedy, the woman against took her girl to the government hospital again after a month.
Not just surprisingly but shockingly the vaccine remained out of stock at the hospital and the doctors again expressed their helplessness. Sadly, and obviously, they did not gauge the seriousness of the girl’s condition and failed to shift her to the Government General Hospital at Kakinada for urgent and proper medical aid.
She was admitted again to the hospital on Tuesday at about 8.30 pm in a serious condition. The duty staff administered an injection and allotted a bed to the girl. The girl cried for help but it fell on deaf ears. She died in the hospital, watched helplessly by her mother, Lakshmi.
Resident medical officer Sudharkar, however, claims that Anusha had been given proper treatment and there were no lapses on their part.
A 45-year-old man, Subramanyam, had succumbed to rabies in March. Another victim was V Srinivasa Reddy who had migrated along with his family to the city two years ago from Gorantla in Prakasam district and worked on daily wages for a living.
The government miserably failed to supply the vaccine to the hospitals. At some hospitals the stock of emergency medicines is not regularly taken and, as the stocks run out, patients are asked to buy the vaccine and medicines from private pharmacies.
The cost of a Rabipur vaccine is Rs 276 but is sold at Rs 350 in the market. The cost of tissue culture vaccine is Rs 177 but private medical shops sell it at Rs 250. Poor victims of dog-bites, who cannot afford the high costs, rush to government hospitals in the hope of receiving free or affordable medical care.
According to Central Drug Stores authorities, Rabipur vaccine had been made available at all government hospitals in the district up to March 25 and the tissue culture vaccine till March 31. But the vaccines were not available between April 1 and April 25 due to ‘stock verification’. The Central Drug Stores’ divisional office at Kakinada gets about 8,000 vials of both the injections a month for supply to the government hospitals.
It is estimated that the district has a canine population of nearly 80,000, and Rajahmundry city accounts for 10,000 of them. About a hundred dog-bite cases a month on an average are registered at the Government General Hospital in Kakinada, 50 at the Government Headquarters Hospital at Rajahmundry,30 at the municipal hospitals in Rajahmundry and about 400 in other parts of the district.
–Agencies