KATHMANDU: Kathmandu Metropolitan City has provided 1,800 vials of anti-rabies vaccine to Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital. Acting Mayor Sunita Dangol visited the hospital on Friday to hand over the vaccines.

While handing over the vials, she said, “Upon receiving information that a vaccine shortage was highly likely, we stepped in to support the hospital to mitigate potential public health risks. This is a response to prevent a crisis that could arise from a vaccine shortage.” She emphasized that everyone must work together to minimize the risk of rabies. “When bitten by an animal, people visit this infectious disease hospital for treatment. In cases like this, one cannot wait for symptoms to appear. We cannot afford to say we will start treatment after symptoms show up. To mitigate such risks, everyone must collaborate,” she added.

“As the procurement process threatened to cause a vaccine shortage, we requested assistance from the metropolis,” the hospital’s Director, Dr. Anup Bastola, said while receiving the vaccines. “Over 200 people visit the hospital daily to get vaccinated against rabies. The vaccines provided by the metropolitan city will help us sustain our services for about nine days.”

The metropolis delivered the vaccines within seven days of the hospital’s request. According to Bastola, this timely assistance has made it much easier to keep the hospital’s services running smoothly.

The hospital had requested vaccines from Kathmandu Metropolitan City to prevent a stockout, as its internal procurement process was still ongoing and the inventory in the store room had dropped significantly low.