Shortage of anti-rabies vaccine hits BMC hospitals
BMC-run hospitals
and dispensaries are experiencing a shortage of anti-rabies vaccine for the past couple of weeks. Officials have directed health facilities to locally procure vials on a need basis until the issue is resolved.
Peripheral hospitals have been hit the hardest. An official from Bhabha Hospital said that most hospitals in the suburbs treat about 30 to 40 rabies cases almost every day.
Past data shows that annually the city reports about 70,000 dog bite cases. "This issue has been on and off since May. Insufficient stock was procured," said an official from another suburban hospital that serves patients from areas like Govandi and Mankhurd.
BMC health officials said, "Local purchasing started just last week. Procurement usually happens through the central purchasing department, but that has not taken place."
"The demand for Mumbai is about 36,000 vials every two months, but this time we only received 18,000 vials," said an official from the central store in Kanjurmarg, which supplies vaccines to BMC facilities. TNN
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
Health dept appoints 1,699 med officers across state
Jaipur: Health department Monday issued appointment and posting orders to 1,699 newly selected medical officers. The recruitment was pending since 2024. Health minister Gajendra Khimsar said the department is recruiting staff in mission mode to address the shortage in medical institutions. In the past one-and-a-half year, he claimed, 24,000 appointments were made in gazetted and non-gazetted categories, and recruitment for about 26,000 positions is under process. The 1,699 medical officers were appointed to various medical institutions through the Rajasthan University of Health Sciences. Principal secretary (health) Gayatri Rathore said the medical officers have been appointed in district hospitals, sub-district hospitals, community health centres, and primary health centres across the state. Director (public health) Dr Ravi Prakash Sharma said all the medical officers have been posted transparently according to their preferences through the designated portal. Care was taken in the postings to ensure that vacant positions for doctors are filled evenly across all areas, he said. The newly appointed doctors must assume their duties by Aug 26, otherwise the appointment orders will be considered automatically cancelled, Dr Sharma said. Doctors will have to download a copy of the appointment order from the Raj Health Portal. TNN Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Time of India
9 hours ago
- Time of India
In Mumbai, 200 people protest against civic body hospital privatisation
Mumbai: Nearly 200 residents and activists protested in Cheetah Camp and Mankhurd on Monday against BMC's plan to privatise two peripheral hospitals and key health services in five others. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A total of 20 participants also sat on a hunger strike near Maharashtra Nagar Maternity Home, demanding stronger public health infrastructure. The protest, the second in recent weeks under the coalition banner 'Aspatal Bachao, Nijikarn Hatao', brought together 25 civil society groups and political parties. Activists remembered residents who died because of poor hospital facilities and shortages. In a statement, the group alleged that more than half the women who visit smaller facilities like Shahji Nagar and Deonar maternity homes are sent directly to larger hospitals such as Sion hospital or Rajawadi Hospital in critical condition. "Several patients die during these referrals due to lack of timely treatment," the statement read, adding that the cost of travel, medicines, and tests pushes families into debt within days. On Saturday, TOI reported that the BMC plans to gradually privatise individual services, including blood banks, cardiology, and MRI at other peripheral hospitals, after a similar union faced protests when it tried to run entire hospitals on a public-private partnership. Protesters demanded the immediate recruitment at the Maharashtra Nagar Maternity Home, restoration of paediatric ICUs, scrapping of all public-private partnership projects in civic hospitals, and guarantees that no patient will be denied care for lack of identification. They also called for a citywide plan to improve govt hospitals and weekly meetings with the municipal health officer to address complaints. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Shubham Kothari of the Jan Haq Sangharsh Samiti said the demonstrators met chief medical superintendent of peripheral hospitals Chandrakant Pawar and were promised their concerns would be raised with senior authorities. Pawar was unavailable for comment.
Hindustan Times
18 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Supreme Court refuses to reverse Bombay high court ban on pigeon feeding
The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the Bombay high court's orders directing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to prosecute those feeding pigeons at Mumbai's 'kabutarkhanas' (pigeon feeding spots) in defiance of civic directives. The Supreme Court said that proceedings in the matter remain pending before the high court. (HT PHOTO) A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi noted that proceedings in the matter remain pending before the high court, which is expected to take up the case again on August 13. 'Parallel indulgence by this court is not proper. Petitioner can move the high court for modification of the order,' said the bench, refusing to interfere. The high court, hearing multiple petitions by animal lovers and rights activists challenging the BMC's demolition of decades-old kabutarkhanas, initially stayed the demolition but barred feeding. On July 30, after noting continued feeding and obstruction of civic officials, the high court ordered criminal cases under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, calling the acts a 'public nuisance likely to spread diseases and endanger human life.' On July 24, the high court warned that pigeon breeding and large congregations at kabutarkhanas posed a 'grave social concern', stressing the decision was in the 'larger interest of societal health, from children to senior citizens.' In court, BMC presented medical evidence that pigeon droppings and feathers can trigger asthma, hypersensitivity, pneumonitis, and lung fibrosis, conditions with no cure once advanced. The civic body argued that many victims realise the damage only after irreversible harm to the lungs. Petitioners in the Supreme Court, including Pallavi Sachin Patil, argued that pigeon feeding is a long-standing religious practice, particularly among Hindu devotees and the Jain community, with some 51 feeding spots in Mumbai operating for decades. They claimed health concerns were overstated and that asthma was more directly linked to pollution from vehicles and open burning. They proposed alternatives, such as bird towers for human-pigeon coexistence. The crackdown sparked street protests. On August 6, hundreds clashed with police at Dadar 'kabutarkhana', tearing down tarpaulin sheets erected to block feeding. Two days earlier, over 1,000 community members protested after the site was barricaded with bamboo poles and covered.
