Kathmandu, November 18
The government, on Thursday, announced that rabies immunoglobulin antibody would be available in all seven provinces.
Minister for Health and Population, Birodh Khatiwada, announced that the antibody against rabies would be available in all seven provinces from next week.
“Nine hospitals across all seven provinces will provide this service. If we need more, we’ll have this service in more hospitals,” said Khatiwada.
Prior to this announcement, rabies immunoglobulin was available only in Kathmandu’s Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital.
“We want to stop people in other provinces dying due to rabies,” Khatiwada said.
According to the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, over 100 rabies patients visit hospitals every year. Out of them, 10 to 20 die every year. To stop that from happening, the Health Ministry has decided to make the rabies immunoglobulin antibody available in all provinces as it wants to cut down rabies death to zero by 2030.
The World Health Organization has asked countries to administer this antibody on people who have never been vaccinated against rabies. This is given to people once in their lifetime.
The hospitals that will provide the immunoglobulin antibody are:
- Province 1: Koshi Hosptial, Biratnagar
2. Province 2: Janakpur Hospital, Dhanusha
3. Province 2: Narayani Hosptial, Birgunj
4. Bagmati Province: Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences, Hetauda
5. Bagmati Province: Bharatpur Hospital, Chitwan
6. Gandaki Province: Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences, Pokhara
7. Lumbini Province: Lumbini Hospital, Butwal
8. Karnali Province: Surkhet Hosptial, Surkhet
9. Sudurpachim Province: Seti Zonal Hosptial, Dhangadi
