The Health Department of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has provided 1,800 vials of anti-rabies vaccine to the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital after the hospital requested an emergency supply to cope with a severe shortage.

KMC officials say they procured the vaccine doses directly from suppliers and delivered them to the hospital, which had been facing a critical shortage of anti-rabies vaccine for the past several weeks.

“The hospital administration had written to us requesting vaccine doses, and we also learnt about the shortage through media reports. So we have supplied 1,800 doses,” said Deepak Kumar KC, chief of the department.

The 1,800 vials contain around 3,600 doses, which are enough to administer one dose each to about 3,600 people or provide the standard four-dose course to around 900 patients. So the stock is expected to provide only temporary relief to the hospital.

Last week and earlier, the Post published reports about the nationwide shortage of rabies vaccine and Teku hospital’s appeals to various agencies, including provincial government agencies, for doses.

Doctors say rabies is preventable if the anti-rabies vaccine is administered on time, but once clinical symptoms appear, the disease is almost always fatal.

Every day, hundreds of people are bitten by dogs across the country. By 12 noon on Sunday, over 350 people had been vaccinated against rabies. Health workers said they expected the number to exceed 600 by evening, as more dog-bite victims continued to arrive for vaccination.

Officials at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division said they have requested provincial government agencies to supply additional doses to ensure uninterrupted vaccination, as it will take several more weeks for newly procured vaccine doses to arrive.

“The vaccine procurement process has started, but the selection of suppliers has not been finalised,” said an official at the division, asking not to be named. “It takes additional time to complete the process and for the doses to arrive.”

Officials said the World Health Organisation had provided 4,500 doses of vaccine after the government’s request. Additional doses were also provided by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, as well as Lumbini and Bagmati provincial governments.

The government needs to procure around 300,000 doses of anti-rabies vaccine to supply state-run health facilities nationwide. However, the Ministry of Health and Food Safety, formerly the Ministry of Health and Population, has not procured rabies vaccine in the current fiscal year, which ends in mid-July.

Due to the failure to procure vaccine doses on time, state-run health facilities across the country have been witnessing an acute shortage of the vaccine for months. The shortage has forced dog bite victims to procure the vaccine out of pocket from private dispensaries. Those from Kathmandu Valley’s adjoining district are forced to travel to the Capital for vaccination.

Health experts warn that delays in vaccination could lead to an increase in rabies deaths, especially among working-class people who are most exposed to stray dog bites and least able to afford treatment at private health facilities. The rabies vaccine normally requires a four-dose course.

Rabies is a deadly viral disease that spreads through the saliva of infected animals, especially dogs and jackals. Dog bites are responsible for almost all rabies deaths in Nepal.

Nepal aims to eliminate dog-transmitted rabies by 2030, a target the World Health Organisation set. However, Health ministry’s data show that dogbite cases have been rising every year. Over 60,000 people receive rabies vaccinations at state-run health facilities every year, while thousands more seek treatment at private centres.

Officials estimate that over 100 people die of rabies every year throughout the country.

Rabies, according to the World Health Organisation, kills 59,000 people globally every year—one person every nine minutes—mostly children and the poor.