Stray dog problem not to be addressed, but rabies vaccines to be charged

Kerala is one of the states where the stray dogs problem is at its peak. Thousands of people, ranging from toddlers to the elderly, seek treatment for dog bites. People know that they should get vaccinated if they are bitten by even a non-rabid dog or even scratched by them. People will come to get vaccinated voluntarily as this vaccination is free in government hospitals. There have been tragic cases where the patient died of rabies despite getting a vaccination. The reason for such a situation is not the failure of the vaccine, but serious setbacks in its implementation. Nevertheless, every year thousands of people come to government hospitals for vaccination for dog bites and other injuries. There are people who buy the vaccine from the commercial market and go to a private hospital for the injection. People who can afford the vaccine themselves are the ones that fall into this category.

Those who are bitten go directly to hospitals and get injections in the context of the local institutions not taking any effective measures to control the stray dog problem. Everyone follows this process uniformly. Apparently the health department is now considering stopping providing free anti-rabies vaccines. The move is to limit the free vaccination to those below the poverty line, while those above the BPL category will have to pay a fee. Government hospitals now charge a fixed fee for all types of treatment and medicines except consultation. Charging people for dog bite vaccinations on top of that is cruel. Whether in rural or urban areas, people are unable to walk freely due to the overabundance of stray dogs. Without addressing the real problem, they are going to charge money for vaccination from the people who are bitten by stray dogs. Don't they have any obligation to the people?

The move to charge non-BPL people for vaccination is based on the recommendation of an expert committee appointed by the health department. The Health Minister is going to implement this reactionary recommendation of the expert committee, proclaiming it as the greatest. What economic benefit does the minister think the government can gain through this? Is there any estimate of how many crores of rupees a year the government will incur by providing the anti-rabies vaccine for free? The cost of purchasing rabies vaccine is not as much as the loss incurred by buying unnecessary drugs worth crores of rupees and destroying them when they expire. The government is not going to go bankrupt by providing vaccines to all the needy for free. Let the government take action to control the dog problem first. Charging prices for vaccines can be done later.