WHO criticizes Pakistani hospitals over rabies deaths

February 22, 2013 - In Pakistan, thousands are still dying from rabies as government hospitals continue to administer an outdated vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. Pakistan sees 5,000 to 6,000 rabies deaths a year. "This high mortality rate indicates a failure to follow WHO guidelines and the use of obsolete and inferior vaccines for rabies management”, said Doctor Quaid Saeed Akhunzada, a national programme manager for the United Nations’ health agency. Rabies is an acute, infectious, often fatal viral disease transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected animal, that attacks the central nervous system. Officials from the Institute of Public Health Punjab have urged the government to replace the current programme with WHO-approved vaccines. The institute launched a rabies awareness campaign last month in schools in Punjab province. Some government hospitals in the province still use a vaccine requiring 14 injections, which was declared obsolete for rabies management by the WHO in 1980. The WHO rabies vaccine has reduced the fatality rate in many Asian countries, including Thailand, Bangladesh, Myanmar and India.