Pabna, Jan 08, (V7N) - Pabna District has been facing a severe shortage of rabies vaccines in its hospitals for the past three months, causing great distress for affected patients and their families. Due to the unavailability of the vaccine in hospitals, patients are forced to purchase it at higher prices from outside. Many people who come to the hospital daily for the vaccine leave empty-handed.
 
Hospital authorities claim that while they have sent demand letters, they are not receiving the required supply.
 
According to sources from the 250-bed Pabna General Hospital, the rabies vaccine ran out in September of last year. The hospital had sent a demand letter to the higher authorities for the vaccine on July 6, but it did not arrive. A second demand letter was sent on September 26, but even after three months, the vaccine has still not been supplied.
 
On Tuesday morning, we spoke with two family members of patients at the Pabna General Hospital. Abdul Hamid, a guardian, expressed frustration, saying, "This is such a big hospital, yet a vital vaccine like the rabies vaccine is unavailable. I found out that there has been no vaccine for three months. What are we poor people supposed to do?"
 
Monirul Islam, a young man, said, “We are poor, and we couldn’t get the vaccine from the hospital. It’s a real struggle to buy it from outside. We even came to the district hospital after not finding it at the upazila hospital. But even here, there is no vaccine. What can we do? We are forced to borrow money to buy the vaccine. This is not how a hospital should function. We demand immediate delivery of the rabies vaccine.”
 
Dr. Rofiqul Hasan, Assistant Director of Pabna General Hospital, confirmed that the hospital has not received any rabies vaccine supply for the past three months. He mentioned that they have repeatedly informed higher authorities about the shortage. "We have sent several requests for the vaccine, but as of now, no supply has been provided, which is why we cannot administer it to patients."
 
Dr. Rofiqul Hasan further stated, "On September 26, 2024, we sent a demand for 10,000 Rabivac VC doses and 2,000 Rabivac IG doses. Even if we get a supply, we may only receive 2,000 doses, which would last for a maximum of three months. On average, we need 700 to 800 doses of the vaccine every month in Pabna."
 
END/SR/SMA/