Gaighat, May 14

Udayapur District Hospital has been facing shortage of anti-rabies vaccine for the past two weeks.

Patients come to the hospital for anti-rabies vaccine but are forced to procure them at private clinics at a higher price. Two to three patients visit the hospital for anti-rabies vaccine on a daily basis, according to AHW Bhola Chaudhary at the hospital. “Shortage of vaccines has forced patients to buy the vaccines from private pharmacies,” AHW Chaudhary said. He informed that vaccines against rabies had not reached the hospital from the centre for a long time. “We have written many times to the centre for vaccines, but to no avail,” he said. He further added that he had been to Kathmandu three times to bring the vaccine, but the centre has yet to buy them.

Chaudhary said he had brought some anti-rabies vaccines from Kathmandu around two months ago. He said the centre had to procure vaccines through tenders which has been the main cause for the delay and the resulting shortage of vaccines at the health facility.

Udayapur district hospital was supposed to receive 500 vials of vaccines from the region as per the quota on a monthly basis. Hospital sources say it had stopped receiving vaccines as per its quota for the past one year.

Hospital Development Committee Chairman Rakesh Khatri said many health facilities had been facing the same crunch as the centre itself lacks the vaccine. Khatri said vaccines should be coming very shortly to the health facility as the centre had already started the vaccine procurement process.