Bhubaneswar: Govt admits shortage of anti-rabies vaccine

Bhubaneswar: Dog-bite victims in the state have expressed concern over the acute shortage of anti-rabies vaccines. Most chemists said they were not stocking the vaccines as they are available in government facilities for free.

On Tuesday, four dog-bite patients in Bhawanipatna went to the district headquarters hospital in Kalahandi. Only one received the vaccine.

Jagulal Agrawal, additional district medical officer of Kalahandi, said they were facing an acute shortage of anti-rabies vaccines for the first time. “Realising the urgency of the situation, we ordered vaccines that arrived in Bhawanipatna by bus from Bhubaneswar. One of the four patients received the medicine,” Agrawal said.

The state government procures anti-rabies vaccines from its own corporation — Odisha State Medical Corporation Limited (OSMCL) — and sends them to different district headquarters hospitals. In case of shortage at OSMCL, the chief district medical officers (CDMOs) are asked to procure the vaccines from the open market.

Dilip Sarangi, director of health services, said the CDMOs were empowered to increase the stock of such vaccines from the open market in case the government’s stock gets exhausted. “I have asked the CDMOs to buy the vaccine from the market,” he said.

However, Akhila Kishor Das, president of Odisha State Chemist Association, said there was no scope for the CDMOs to keep vaccines ready in case of emergency as most chemists didn’t have them in stock.