Over 5641 Dog-Bite Cases Reported Across Pakistan in One Week

Sun Jul 07 2024
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ISLAMABAD: An alarming 5,641 dog-bite cases have been reported across Pakistan in just one week, according to National Institute of Health (NIH) sources.

According to local media reports, citing sources, Punjab topped the list with 3,264 cases, followed by Sindh with 1,601 cases.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 615 cases, while Balochistan registered 80 cases. Meanwhile, 75 cases were recorded in Azad Kashmir and 6 in Gilgit-Baltistan, sources added.

Over 5641 Dog Bite Cases Reported Across Pakistan in One Week 1

Last month, 7,957 dog bite cases were reported in one week across Pakistan. In a major development, the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in Karachi has developed its own anti-rabies vaccine (ARV), namely DowRab, for dog bite victims in the province of Sindh.

The reports showed that around one million individuals in Pakistan are bitten by stray dogs annually, leading to an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 deaths from rabies.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad, Pakistan needs over 2 million doses of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) on a yearly basis, with a significant portion being imported from neighbouring India.

Currently, Pakistan is facing a critical shortage of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) attributed to pricing issues.

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