The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly was briefed that the province records nearly 54,000 snakebite cases each year, yet the government is still without an anti-venom vaccine despite spending large sums since 2012.
During the PAC meeting, officials disclosed that the provincial health department had used Rs. 1.7 billion from 2012 to 2023 to produce an anti-snake venom vaccine, but the effort yielded no results. In 2024, the project was shifted from the health department to the livestock department.
PAC Chairman Nisar Ahmed Khuhro presided over the meeting, where it was revealed that an additional Rs. 350 million had been released to the livestock department for vaccine production. However, not a single dose had been manufactured between 2024 and 2025.
Livestock Secretary Kazim Jatoi and Director General Dr. Nazir Hussain Kalhoro attended the session, which reviewed the 2024 and 2025 audit reports of the livestock department.
The committee was informed that the Sindh Institute of Animal Health had awarded a Rs. 300 million tender to acquire machinery and equipment from Germany, Switzerland, and the United States to develop the vaccine within one year.
Dr. Kalhoro said the province is home to 55 species of snakes, of which 13 are venomous and seven are considered lethal, including cobras and two-mouthed snakes.
While around 54,000 snakebite cases are reported annually, he noted that due to the limited presence of deadly species, estimated annual deaths range between 500 and 1,000, although exact figures must be confirmed by the health department.
He added that currently only the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad produces anti-venom. Sindh receives only about 4,000 doses from the NIH, which he described as far too few for the province’s needs. He assured the committee that the livestock department aims to produce its own vaccine within a year.
The DG also explained that the anti-venom project was originally part of a Rs. 2.8 billion Annual Development Programme scheme launched in 2012, under which Rs. 1.7 billion had been issued to the health department before the project was transferred to livestock in 2024, along with Rs. 350 million in new funds.
He added that snakes and horses have already been purchased, as the vaccine will be created using snake venom and horse blood.
Audit officials raised concerns that the livestock department had also failed to develop vaccines for PPR (Peste des Petits Ruminants) and FMD (foot and mouth disease), contributing to an animal mortality rate of up to 70%. The livestock secretary responded that the PPR vaccine had been completed, while work on the FMD vaccine was still ongoing.