‘15 million Pakistanis suffering from chronic infections’

Karachi 

Pakistan has the second highest rate of chronic infections in the world, with an estimated 15 million people in the country suffering from various infections and viruses, according to Dr

Saeed Khan, associate professor and head of the Dow University of Health Sciences’ Molecular Pathology Department.

Identifying contaminated syringes as a main source of transmission and referring to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, he said Pakistan was among the top syringe consuming countries, with almost 2.4 billion syringes used every year.

This scenario, he maintained, had enhanced the importance and need for training workshops and lectures to increase awareness regarding the hepatitis virus and safe practices among physicians and health care. 

Dr Khan was addressing a workshop on Skills Enhancement and Professional Development for Health Care Workers that also coincided with a CME session on detection and monitoring of viral hepatitis using PCR. 

Noor-ul-Ain Maqsood, a bio-safety officer, discussed different aspects of bio-safety practices in her presentation, focusing on matters such as handling of sharp objects, waste disposal and incident reporting to keep workers and patients safe. 

Participants of the workshop included doctors, technicians, phlebotomists and receptionists from Mirpurkhas, Sukkar, Shikarpur, Mithi, Tharparkar, Thatta, Karachi and Hyderabad.

In his concluding remarks, the chairperson of the Pathology Department at Liaquat University of Health and Medical Sciences called for more such sessions and highlighted the need to expand such efforts to less developed areas of the country.