April 7, 2006	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 8, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, April 6: Federal Health Minister Muhammad Nasir Khan on Thursday said the government would bring injection safety bill in next National Assembly session. Speaking at a seminar on Injection Safety at Mother and Child Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) he said unsafe injection practices were playing havoc with the lives of patients and their families in Pakistan.

He said epidemiological studies had identified unsafe injection practices in the curative sector as the driving force behind the spread of life threatening diseases such as hepatitis B, C and HIV/AIDS.

Unsafe injection use particularly among drug users had been documented as the major cause of HIV, the minister added.

Although accurate data for hepatitis B and C were not available, estimates suggested that both diseases had affected between 5-10 per cent of the population, he said.

At present vaccination was available only for hepatitis B, he said, adding that once an individual contracted hepatitis B, C and HIV, treatment was extremely expensive and beyond the reach of most people.

An effective intervention could only be possible if all public and private stakeholders played their role, Mr Khan said.

The minister stressed the need of creating awareness among the public about the dangers of unsafe and unnecessary injections.

Scientists and the media should collaborate to develop health messages highlighting the issue, he added.

The government and industry must play a constructive role in supporting the efforts of groups such as the centre for injection safety and the members of the injection safety alliance in their advocacy research and training efforts, he said.

A responsible role must be adopted by the pharmaceutical industry when marketing injections or injectable drugs, he said adding that oral medicines must be emphasized as the first line of treatment of most of the ailments, with injections or injectable drugs being used only when required.

International agencies such as World Health Organization and its safe injection global network could contribute by establishing global guidelines and pushing governments to comply with them.

The federal and provincial health ministers are committed to supporting the efforts of all these groups and encouraging public private partnerships in creating awareness among the masses.

He also urged the officials of the provincial governments present on the occasion to ensure proper utilization of resources so that the the blessings of good health policies trickled down to grassroots level.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Health Minister Shabbir Ahmad Qaimkhani stressed the need of investing more resources in education and health sectors as both were playing central role in the prosperity of the country.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed said given the limited resources, all the issues should be addressed on priority basis, and added that the health sector besides education always remained at the top of the agenda of the government as only healthy nation could make a bright future.