Biratnagar, July 7

With Koshi Zonal Hospital reeling under a shortage of anti-rabies vaccines, patients from the eastern region are forced to return home without treatment.

Service delivery at the Biratnagar-based hospital has been hampered as the Department of Drug Management failed to supply vaccines as per demand.

“Our store has run out of anti-rabies vaccines. We do not know when the centre will next supply the vaccines,” said chief at Eastern Regional Medical Store Bharat Sah.

There is a monthly demand of around 6,000 vaccines in the eastern region, according to Sah. All anti-rabies vaccines the department last dispatched were used and the department did not supply vaccines this month, he said. As many as 10 persons who came to the hospital for the vaccine returned without treatment on Sunday.

Medical Superintendent Dr Roshan Pokhrel said the hospital had not been able to treat any patient with anti-rabies vaccine for the last four days.

“Despite our repeated pleas, the vaccines have not been supplied to us. Our hospital needs at least 2,000 such vaccines in a month.  Sometimes, we bring the vaccines on our own and administer them to patients,” he said.