KARACHI: It was revealed on Sunday that there has been a severe tetanus injection scarcity in the city for nearly a month, causing several hospitals to refuse the drug to injured patients.
Physicians connected to many public and private hospitals in the city informed Dawn that the injection was sold on the black market for an extremely high price and that there had been a pharmaceutical shortage for about a month.
“Yes, over the past month there has been a severe scarcity of the drug. However, we are handling this issue internally with our own resources, an Indus Hospital representative revealed.
According to Pakistan Medical Association-Centre secretary general Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, “many people suffer injuries daily in Karachi who are now at a grave risk of suffering health complications, if they are not administered with anti-tetanus medication.” Severe tetanus complications could be “life-threatening.”
Doctors say there is an injection accessible on the black market for a very high price.
Tetanus, also referred to as lockjaw, is a dangerous neurological illness brought on by a bacteria that produces toxins. Muscle spasms are brought on by the condition, especially in the jaw and neck muscles. Life-threatening tetanus complications can occur. The only way to effectively prevent tetanus is through immunization.
According to medical professionals, tetanus can cause breathing difficulties, high blood pressure, blood clots in the lungs, vocal cord spasms, and shattered bones as a result of severe muscular spasms.
nationwide shortage
According to sources, the prescription scarcity affected the entire nation and wasn’t just limited to Karachi. The Punjab government planned to buy 1.5 million pills of the drug from a pharmaceutical company in an effort to address the shortage. They indicated that the imported shipment would arrive in a few days.
Not only tetanus, but also a number of medications—including diabetes medication, which has been scarce for more than a month—are affected. We had written the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) about this issue more than a month ago, asking if the shortage of drugs was caused by a shortage of their raw materials or issues with their import. Unfortunately, no reaction or action was taken, according to PMA’s Dr. Shoro.
He mentioned that there was once a severe scarcity of the dog bite vaccination and claimed that shortages of medications are frequently manufactured to drive up their costs.
The impoverished man suffers in quiet in both situations. In order to safeguard expectant mothers and their unborn children from neonatal tetanus, anti-tetanus medication is also provided during prenatal care, he clarified.
Officials at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre reported that although there was a severe scarcity of tetanus immunoglobulin, anti-tetanus serum was not in limited supply. “While immunoglobulin is necessary to develop passive immunity, serum plays a preventive role in immunity building.”
The Dr. Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi officials emphasized the necessity of a health department warning regarding the use of anti-tetanus medication.
Anti-tetanus serum is in short supply, while tetanus toxoid is not. Both drugs have a preventative function, but there are various hazards associated with the former. Therefore, it is preferable to use the latter drug, which is safe and widely advised for tetanus, according to a senior CHK physician. The doctor also mentioned that anti-tetanus serum made from equine blood was utilized in the majority of Pakistani hospitals.
There was no DRAP or health department representative available for comment.
