WORLDWIDE PROBLEM: City hall runs out of anti-rabies vaccine

THE Iloilo City Council revealed that the city lacks anti-rabies vaccine.

According to City Councilor Ely Estante, the city has run out of anti-rabies vaccine because of problems with the global supplier.

“Naka-istorya ko kay city veterinarian, Dr. Tomas Forteza Jr. nga wala na supply sang vaccine diri sa Iloilo kag sa kabilogan sang pungsod. Naghambal si Doctor, may 25 vials sila before but naubos na,” said Estante.

Even with the P2-million budget for the procurement of the vaccine, Estante added that they cannot find any supplier for the vaccine.

Councilor Candice Tupas, committee on health chair, confirmed the lack of the vaccine due to supply woes.

“Their funds for the government are frozen so the supplier is not allowed to distribute the vaccine now,” she noted.

Recently, “Rabipur” delivered to China was found out to be contaminated with bacteria resulting in a halt in production and temporary suspension of the procurement by the Department of Health.

This caused a major disruption and shortage since the manufacturer of Rabipur, which is GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), supplies at least 50 percent of human anti-rabies vaccine in the country.

Sanofi Pasteur, the supplier “Verorab,” also ran short of raw materials and could not cover the world demand for anti-rabies vaccines.

Last April, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to look for new suppliers of human anti-rabies vaccine to address the nationwide shortage.

Estante suggested re-constituting the Iloilo City Rabies Control Council so that they can come up with a recommendation and suggestion to address the problem.

Meanwhile, Tupas advised the public to be responsible pet owners to avoid the sperad of rabies cases in the city.

“We have problems with the supply and that’s beyond the city health and the local government’s mandate but the best way to prevent rabies is for the owners to take care of your own dogs and to bring their dogs for vaccination,” Tupas said.

According to Office of the City Veterinarian (OCV), eight positive animal rabies cases in Iloilo City from January to July 2018 were detected by the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture.

The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) recorded more than 30,000 animal bite victims (with one death) in 2017.

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian