Unsafe Disposal of Hospital Wastage Spreads Deadly Diseases

Karachi – “Unsafe disposal of hospital wastage is the key to the spread of deadly diseases.” This was stated by Dr Shugufta Shafi, Associate Prof of Medicine at Hamdard Hospital Karachi. She was speaking at the health awareness session of Savior Club on Jimmy’s massage “Don’t Prick IV bottle, It Can Spread Hepatitis” in Karachi. The program was arranged by Otsuka Pakistan Ltd.

She stressed on the proper training of paramedical staff and house officers and said that SOPs should be followed strictly. She said that poor nursing care is the cause of spreading of deadly diseases. Dr Shugufta said that shortage of qualified nurses and other paramedical staff is a big issue and no one is addressing this shortage. She said that prick-free infusion therapy is very important, and it can reduce the incidence of needle injuries and minimize spread of hepatitis. She said that proper disposal of hospital wastage is thus necessary and must be monitored by upper management and concerned faculty members. She said that proper disposal of wastage and training of hospital staff should be conducted and maintained on a regular basis and must be included in SOPs. She said that if proper training of junior paramedic staff is ensured alongside nurses’ training, it would be a good move and will produce tremendous results.

Dr Shugufta said nursing care is an important factor for improving the credibility of the health system. She acknowledged the standard nursing care in Agha Khan Hospital and said that private and public sectors must follow the Agha Khan Hospital‘s nursing standard.  She said that substandard products are serious threats for patients and it is difficult to monitor the quality of products for junior house officers and paramedics. She said that IV fluid is specifically very important in surgical procedures and fluid therapy is very important, and sterilization of instruments is also a critical factor.

Dr Shugufta said that prescription of products by brand names is also a solution to ensure the quality product for patients. She said that regular training of paramedics and house officers must be conducted properly. She acknowledge the efforts by Savior Club to provide a platform to the medical community for creating awareness against deadly diseases like hepatitis. She appreciated the struggles and strife of medical professionals and the fruits of their efforts. She also appreciated the quality of products from Otsuka and said that medical professionals are satisfied with the quality of products.

CEO Hanif Sattar said that Otsuka is the manufacturer of IV fluid in different compositions to meet the need of the market. He said that Otsuka is committed to providing the best clinical services and feedback to the medical community. Mr Sattar said that new taxes are imposed on imported medical health products which would overburden patients, and requested that taxes be reduced on life saving drugs and other imported essential medicated products because these products are not manufactured in Pakistan and we are dependent on imports for them, thus he requested health authorities to reduce the imports duty.

Head of sales Khalid Muneer said that Otsuka has a unique system for controlling the quality measures, and no one can match Otsuka in terms of quality.  Mr Khalid said that Otsuka is a Japan-based multinational pharmaceutical company and produces IV infusion bottle worldwide.  Mr Khalid said that Otsuka is committed to providing qualitative products at affordable price to the patients. He said that Otsuka launched new compositions to fulfil the need of the medical community. He said that foundation of Savior club in early 2000 was initiated by Otsuka team on the suggestion of a very senior professor. Since 2000, it has become a regular activity which is conducted each month. He said that now, more than 5000 doctors are members, dedicated to playing their role to create awareness across the country.

Lastly, the guest speaker conducted the lucky draw and Dr Umer Motlani of Tahir Bazar Hyderabad was declared the lucky winner.