Mohali Civil Surgeon assures of anti-rabies medicine stock

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 11

As many as 10 dog bite cases on an average are being reported every day at three main government hospitals in Mohali district.

Going by data from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019, the Mohali Civil Hospital at Phase 6 received as many as 2,581 patients of dog bite here.

“Of the total, 463 patients were children. Most of the patients had become prey to stray dogs. Though such cases are being reported from Mohali town every now and then, in most cases, patients belong to the rural belt or slum areas,” sources said.

Civil Surgeon Dr Manjit Singh admitted that they were receiving around 10 such cases on an average every day.

Dr Manjit Singh said all three hospitals in Mohali, Kharar and Dera Bassi were fully equipped to treat such patients.

“We have proper medicine here. Patients are being treated in our hospitals everyday,” claimed Dr Manjit Singh.

When asked about reports regarding shortage of anti-rabies medicine in the region recently, the Civil Surgeon added that some fall in supply of the medicine was noticed in the recent past. “Now, everything is under control. We have enough medicine for our patients, I assure,” he said.

Sterlisation of dogs in Mohali: The Mohali Municipal Corporation has hired services of an NGO for sterlisation of stray dogs here. According to a senior MC official, the NGO has already sterilised more than 5,500 stray dogs in the town so far. The NGO had started its job in mid-2017. “Sterilisation of dogs is still on in the town,” said Municipal Commissioner Bhupinder Singh.

No record of the presence of stray dogs in the town: Surprisingly, the MC or any other government agency has no official record of the number of stray dogs in the town. “We have no record of the number of stray dogs here, but according to a rough estimate, the number could be nearly 7,000,” the official said on condition of anonymity.