(a) whether thousands of people die of rabies every year in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether new techniques or immunization systems have been allegedly ignore by the Government;
(d) whether the doctors at various Central Government hospitals in the country have also urged the Union to adopt new system in this regard; and
(e) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto?
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS)
(a) & (b) Central Bureau of Health Intelligence reported 301 deaths due to rabies in the year 2005.
(c) to (e) As recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO), the use of the reactogenic vaccine Neural Tissue anti rabies vaccine (NTV) has been discontinued in the country since January 2005 and the Government has switched over to the Tissue Culture anti rabies vaccine (TCARV). Since the higher cost of intramuscular administration of TCARV is a limiting factor for its wider use, after requisite field trial four vaccines, namely, Purified Vero Cell rabies vaccine by Aventis Pasteur, Purified Chick Embryo cell by Chiron Behring Pvt. Ltd, Purified Vero Cell vaccine by Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor and Human Biologicals Institute, Ooty have been allowed to be administered through intra dermal route.