Sindh's ruling party speaks in two voices on dog-bite crisis

Two contrasting pictures of Sindh's dog-bite crisis emerged at a rabies awareness seminar at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Tuesday, with a PPP lawmaker warning of an emergency while a provincial minister claimed the situation was improving. Speaking at the seminar, PPP MNA Sharmila Faruqui said more than 200,000 dog-bite cases had been reported across Sindh this year, describing the figure as an alarming situation requiring immediate action. She said more than 40,000 cases had been reported in Karachi alone. Yet Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah later painted a different picture, claiming that government efforts had led to a "considerable decline" in dog-bite cases and that the number recorded this year was lower than last year. Sharmila said every dog-bite victim represented a person and a family, with children and daily-wage workers among those frequently affected. She stressed the need for immediate awareness and timely treatment following a bite. "Rabies is preventable," she said, adding that post-exposure treatment must be administered before symptoms appear because once clinical symptoms develop, rabies is almost always fatal. Sharmila also urged parents to prevent children from approaching or provoking animals, warning that even a minor scratch should not be ignored. Nasir Shah, meanwhile, said the Sindh government was taking measures to control the stray-dog population, including a sterilisation programme that was being further organised and strengthened. He said a meeting involving senior officials, including the chief guest, secretary and health minister, had also been held to discuss the dog-bite problem. The seminar was attended by JPMC Executive Director Dr Khalid Sher, Emergency Department head Dr Suleman and other medical experts. The government has also recently initiated coordinated planning with local bodies for the sterilisation, vaccination and tagging of stray dogs, while directives have been issued to ensure the availability of anti-rabies vaccines at dog-bite treatment centres across Karachi. However, the conflicting claims come against the backdrop of nine-month figures showing 35 rabies deaths and more than 200,000 dog-bite cases across Sindh, including over 40,000 cases reported at major Karachi hospitals.