Rabies remains a serious concern in Bali, as the province has had notable issues this year securing supplies of the anti-rabies vaccine (VAR).
“On average, 100 people get bit by animals that can transmit rabies in Bali. And that figure is very alarming,” Bali’s Head of Disease Control and Environmental Health Dr. Gede Wira Sunetra told Tribun Bali on Tuesday.
There are as many as 13,795 doses of the VAR scattered across Bali as of Monday, but Karangasem and Gianyar have nil, according to Tribun.
Until now, the provincial health office is still having problems getting a good enough supply of VAR since Bio Farma, the distribution license holder of VAR stopped production, reports Tribun.
The budget is actually not the problem, it’s about the hold on production, complained Wira.
As a result, some VAR has made its way to Bali by route of importation from France, which of course means numbers can be more limited and it takes longer to get to Bali.
When contacted by Tribun Bali some time ago via email, Drajat Alamsyah, head of domestic sales for PT Bio Farma (Persero) did not explain in detail why it was no longer producing VAR (Verorab).
A record number of 12 people have reportedly died from rabies this year in Bali, as opposed to just two rabies-related deaths last year, and just one in 2013, according to the Jakarta Post.
The most recent case was the death of a 24-year-old on Monday, who doctors suspect died from rabies.
Illustration: Wikimedia Commons
