KARACHI: The chief secretary of Sindh was informed on December 21 that out of the Rs265 million allocated this year for mass dog vaccination and sterilisation, only Rs66.255m was released so far and only one centre was operational outside Karachi.
The CS, Asif Hyder Shah, held a meeting on rabies prevention against the backdrop of media reports highlighting sharp increase in dog-bite cases and mortalities in Sindh.
The meeting was attended by all divisional commissioners, officials representing the health department and Rabies Control Programme Sindh (RCPS), experts of the Indus Hospital and other key stakeholders.
Highlighting the challenges, officials informed the attendees that out of the Rs265.02 million allocated for the current financial year 2025-26, a total of Rs66.255 million had been released.
Currently, they said, the RCPS launched in 2022 had only seven fully functional centres in the province. Six of them located in Karachi’s districts South, Central, East, West, Korangi and Keamari, while only one was operational in district Matiari, in Hyderabad division.
Out of Rs265m allocated this year for mass dog vaccination, only Rs66m released, CS told
On the financial front, the officials stated that out of the total project cost of Rs963.316m, Rs302.988 million (31.4 percent) had been utilised as of October 31, 2025.
About the initiatives being taken, the meeting participants were informed that 20 RCPS centres were being established including the ones in district Malir and Dadu.
Officials said that 19,449 stray dogs had been spayed and neutered, while 30,729 dogs had been vaccinated across various districts of Sindh till October.
Vaccinated dogs were being tagged and geo-tagged for effective monitoring.
A dedicated helpline 1093 is operational, along with Android and iOS mobile applications being developed to help citizens lodge complaints related to stray dogs.
A live online dashboard was also under development to integrate operational data and strengthen oversight.
Officials claimed that 250 rabies treatment and prevention centres were operating across the province, providing immediate post-exposure prophylaxis and emergency response services to bite victims.
In addition, 20 more rabies centres were currently in the process of being established. These centres would be upgraded in a phased manner, with enhanced facilities, standardised protocols and improved service delivery.
The meeting was further informed that RCPS staff would undergo structured training in collaboration with Indus Hospital’s rabies prevention centre.
In his remarks, Mr Shah said that the government had adopted a comprehensive and proactive approach to address the challenges of rabies across the province.
“Through sustained policy focus and strong administrative oversight, rabies prevention has been prioritised as a key public health objective,” he said, adding that a province-wide network of treatment and prevention facilities had been developed to ensure timely medical response for bite victims.
Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2025.