In Pakistan’s Sindh, rabies treatment faces unlikely adversary: traditional healers

A boy gestures beside stray dogs at the Edhi Animal Home on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, on August 17, 2016. (AFP/File)

• Hundreds die of rabies in Pakistan every year because families seek traditional healers instead of professional medical help
• World Health Organization estimates about 500 to 5,000 people die of the virus in Pakistan each year

KARACHI: When Junaid Ahmed Khan was brought to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) in Karachi last week, he was suffering from high fever and delirium. 
Doctors diagnosed the 45-year-old with rabies and began treatment — but it was too late.
On Monday this week, Khan passed away.
Months had passed since he had been bitten by a stray dog — precious time his family wasted in seeking treatment from local faith healers and trying home remedies. 
Indeed, Khan is one of hundreds of people who die of rabies in Pakistan every year because families prefer to see traditional healers instead of visiting hospitals and getting anti-rabies vaccines in time, doctors in Karachi told Arab News this week.
Rabies is endemic in Pakistan, with human infections mostly due to dog bites. The World Health Organization estimates about 500 to 5,000 people die of the virus in Pakistan each year.
And while the Global Alliance for Rabies Control says more than 80,500 cases of dog bites are reported by basic health units across Pakistan annually, those managed by spiritual healers are not recorded. Doctors believe the real number of cases may be significantly higher.
“Seven patients brought to the hospital since the beginning of the year, including Khan, were not administered anti-rabies vaccines on time,” Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) executive director, Dr. Seemi Jamali, told Arab News. 
“He was brought to us nearly three months after he was attacked by a stray dog,” she said. “When he first developed symptoms of rabies, his family took him to a faith healer instead of bringing him here.”
“People do not get timely treatment due to lack of awareness,” the doctor said, lamenting that patients often first tried home remedies like rubbing various substances like pepper and antimony into their wounds. 
Two hospitals in Karachi, the Indus Hospital and JPMC, have together already handled 8,500 dog bite cases since the beginning of the year.
“The figures provided by hospital authorities are just the tip of the iceberg,” Aftab Gohar, manager of the Rabies Prevention Center at the Indus Hospital in Karachi, said. 
He said at least four patients died at his hospital this year because it was too late to start treatment by the time they were brought in.
It was ignorance that mostly led to such incidents, Gohar said, as rabies treatment, although it costs about Rs12,500 ($80), was administered free of charge at many Karachi hospitals.
“In rural areas of the province, dog bite cases are not taken seriously, and people are mostly rushed to faith healers or shrines,” Gohar said, adding that cases were also mismanaged at local health centers. “Even if someone goes to a local hospital for dog bite treatment, some doctors and nurses are unaware of how to deal with the problem under the World Health Organization’s guidelines.”