G S Asgotra
Early Times Report
Jammu, July 22: Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H) has been facing acute shortage of Anti Venom Serum (AVS), Anti Rabbis Serum (ARS) due to which, the patients are compelled to rely on private clinics, in the process facing lot of inconvenience and also losing their hard earned money.
Source informed Early Times that every day, nearly 60 snake bite cases are registered in Jammu province on regular basis and most of them, which were critical were refered to GMC&H for advanced treatment. "But due to shortage of serum in the hospital, the patients are compelled to purchase serum from open market after paying huge amount", sources said.
He further said that in January 1,822 bites cases were reported and 70 per cent of them were said to be required Serum which was not available in hospital and the patients were asked to purchase it on their own from open market.
"Cost of serum is more than Rs 2600. The increasing incidents of snake bites and non-availability of ARS, AVS have put lives of poor patients at risk, who instead of coming to hospitals, prefer to visit godsman", sources said.
A retired Dy Director, wishing anonymity said that due to absence or negligible availability of serum (AVS, ARS) in the market, the doctors are administrating anti rabies vaccine and anti venom vaccines which is free of cost and available in GMC&H, but it was not a actually substitute of serum, and the actually alternative of serum, is human immunoglobin, is much more expensive and their cost was 10,000 and therefore rarely stocked in tops most hospital of the country. "Owing to expensive cost, and less availability in Jammu market, most of the poor people are still depriving to get the advanced treatment, when they getting snake bite and stray animal bite", he added. Pertinently, the serum is an essential antidote for rabid animal bite cases and snake bite and the anti rabies, anti venom immunoglobin derived from blood of horses.
"Now-a-days, the shortage of serum has been influencing the rest of country from more than six months, after the animal activist and incumbent Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi had filed a court case protesting against torture of horses".
When contacted, Associated Professor and Head of Community Medicine, Dr Dinesh Kumar admitted that the supply of Anti-Rabies Serum has been stopped in the hospital due to expensive cost and further said, "due to non availability of AVS (Anti venom serum), we have used anti rabies vaccines and got good results". |
