Daily Times

Four-year-old dog-bite victim succumbed to his injuries in Sukkur hospital on Sunday allegedly after the doctors failed to administer him the anti-rabies vaccine on time.

As per details, a four-year-old Hidayatullah, a resident of a village in the Saleh Pat Tehsil in Sukkur District was attacked and injured by stray dogs in the areas. The injured was shifted to a hospital for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries.

However, Hidayatullah’s uncle Alam Abu Poto alleged that the boy died because the hospital staff failed to administer him dog-bite vaccination even after three days of admission. He demanded of the authorities to take the notice of the incident and investigate the matter on a merit basis.

Earlier on January 8, a woman from rural Sindh died because of rabies after she was bitten by stray dogs. She was a resident of Hamzo Khan Rind village in the Bajara Union Council – electoral constituency of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. The deceased was 30 years old and mother of four, including a 40-day-old infant. Her husband Deen Mohammad told the local media that he shifted his wife from Sehwan to Hyderabad because the Sehwan hospital did not have the anti-rabies vaccine.

On January 2, a teen from Shikarpur in Sindh developed full-blown rabies after he was bitten by a rabid dog. He was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi for treatment, but he could not survive.

Ironically, Pakistan is facing an acute shortage of ARV after Indian companies reduced its supply to Pakistan, citing growing global demand and lesser production, while the number of dog bite cases is on the rise due to some NGOs’ opposition to killing stray dogs.