Five years after submitting DPR, rabies vaccine project remains frozen

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A project conceived by the state government in 2017 to produce 10 million doses of anti-rabies vaccine per year is still frozen. The aim was to manufacture vaccines for humans and animals. But the project did not start yet due to non-allocation of funds.

The proposal for the project was prepared by NABARD Consultancy Service, Nabcons, for Animal Health and Veterinary Biological Institute in Palode. The DPR of the project was submitted to the government in April 2018. Drug discovery and manufacturing was intended to be carried out at the Animal Health and Veterinary Biological Institute, Palode. Rs 204.0409 crores was estimated as the investment amount of the project. It was said that Rs 50 lakh would be allocated for its initial work, but that did not happen.

Despite widespread cases of dog rabies in the state last year and several deaths due to dog bites, the government did not take any steps to revive the scheme. As the people became very panicked, a project named Rabies Free Kerala was prepared and an intensive vaccination campaign was organized for stray dogs. On that day, animal welfare department bought lakhs of doses of vaccine from other states at high prices. At present, it is estimated that there are 8 lakh pet dogs and 2.8 lakh stray dogs in the state.

Vaccine sales was also the goal

It was decided to manufacture the vaccine to meet the requirement of the state subject to the approval of Drug Control of India as per GMP norms. The aim was to produce 10 million doses of vaccine per year and sell the surplus to generate revenue for the state.