Manufacturers told to rush rabies vaccines to areas facing shortage

News:National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has ordered the manufacturers to supply the anti-rabies vaccines where there is a shortage of these medicines.

Facts:

About Rabies:

• Rabies is caused by Ribonucleic Acid(RNA) virus that is present in the saliva of a rabid animal.It is transmitted following a bite of a rabid animal that leads to deposition of the saliva and the virus in the wound.
• The death invariably occurs in four days to two weeks due to cardio-respiratory failure.However,the time interval between the bite and occurrence of symptoms varies from four days to two years or rarely even more.
• Thus,it is important to remove the virus from the wound as early as possible by immediately washing the wound with water and soap followed by application of antiseptics that reduce chances of nerve infection.

Status of Rabies in India:

• According to the Health Ministry’s data,India accounts for more than one-third of the world’s rabies deaths.
• India has a population of 30 million stray dogs which cause 96% of rabies in humans.Each year,as many as 20,000 people die due to the vaccine-preventable fatality.

Additional Information:

About NPPA

• NPPA is an independent body set up in 1997 under Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
• The functions of NPPA are:(a)To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (b)Deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority (c) To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages and (d)To collect/ maintain data on production, exports and imports,profitability of companies for bulk drugs and formulation.