KARACHI: Citizens across the province are paying a heavy price on account of government’s failure to control dog population, families of rabies-affected people said while speaking to Dawn.
They deplored that the departments concerned failed to ensure provision of healthcare facilities and life-saving medicines, besides training healthcare providers in the management of dog-bite cases.
According to sources, persistent official failure at various levels has claimed the lives of at least 22 people, about half of them hailing from the interior parts of the Sindh, this year, while cases of dog-bite have increased dramatically.
They emphasised that these precious lives of the victims, mostly children, could have been saved easily with proper management of injuries. A case in point, they said, was of a teenage college student who recently died of the deadly disease.
Her tragic death, sources said, offered a glimpse into the sufferings of poor families, left wondering why they had to pay the price of a dog-bite with life of their loved-one.
Citizens pay heavy price on account of govt’s failure to control dog population, ensure proper treatment facilities, says one affected family
“We buried our sister today. We are still in shock and feel frustrated that we couldn’t save her life despite taking her immediately to a government hospital (in Orangi town) and then to a reputed private hospital in Nazimabad,” Aliyan, elder brother of the victim, Bazla, told Dawn.
Family sources said the 17-year-old girl was bitten by a street dog on her thumb while she was playing badminton outside her home, preparing for her college’s sports competition.
The government hospital didn’t have the medicine, forcing the family to take her to a private hospital. “Here, the hospital staff administered half dose of a medicine that we had to buy. We were told that there was no need to report back.”
Three to four weeks later, sources said, the girl developed full-blown rabies, presented by a fear of water, aerophobia and severe restlessness. The family, sources said, took the victim to the same private hospital which, this time, declined admission, forcing them to take her to two government hospitals and three private hospitals one after another.
None of the hospitals could offer the victim comfort care in her dying moments.
“There was no hope for her when she reached at our facility. The victim at this last stage only needed what we call palliative care,” said Aftab Gohar, Manager Rabies Prevention and Training Centre at the Indus Hospital.
“As per the WHO protocol, we first rigorously wash wound of any animal bite that could potentially transmit rabies with soap at least for 10 to 15 minutes. Then the patient is classified according to the wound severity.
“For wounds carrying moderate risk, we give three shots of anti-rabies vaccine over a period of one week. In case of high risk wounds, we administer rabies immunoglobulin immediately along with the vaccine,” Mr Gohar explained, adding that families were advised to report back for subsequent vaccine shots.
Information gathered from three key tertiary care hospitals in the city shows that over 42,000 dog-bite cases have been reported this year so far – over 16,000 at the Indus Hospital, over 12,000 at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and over 13,000 at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).
“The situation has worsened this year as we see a growing number of patients with severe wounds now,” shared Dr Rumana Farhat looking after the Rabies Prevention Centre at the CHK, adding that people must know that inadequate vaccine dose didn’t provide protection from deadly rabies.
Dr Nausheen Rauf, heading the JPMC, shared that out of the 14 rabies patients who reported at the hospital this year, six were from the interior parts of the province.
“They were from Qambar, Mirpur Mathelo, Ghotki, Dadu, Badin and Sukkur. Right now, we are seeing 35 to 45 new cases daily,” she said, adding that a total of 12,217 cases of dog-bite have been reported this year at the hospital.
About concerns over growing population of dogs in the city, Project Director of Rabies Control Programme Sindh (RCPS) Sumera Hussain said the initiative that finally took off in 2022 was still at a nascent stage due to delays in the release of funds and other operational challenges.
“It is important to understand that the responsibility to control dog population primarily lies with respective local councils under the local government rules and regulations.
“The RCPS is only a progamme with a limited time frame and budget launched with the aim to show that humane management of dog population is possible,” she said, adding that the programme has been extended for another year after it ends this year and that the programme was currently operational in (only) seven districts (six of Karachi) in the province.
Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2025.
