PESHAWAR, May 23: Non-sterilization of instruments at public sector hospitals has not only been causing infections to patients and doctors but also leading to irrational use of anti-biotics, doctors told Dawn.

“In the absence of sterilization, 80 per cent of the drug budget of government hospitals is consumed by anti-biotics which are used unnecessarily,” said Dr Obaidullah, a plastic surgeon at the Aman Hospital and member of the Infection Control Committee of Pakistan.

Because of non-sterilization at hospitals many senior doctors, including Dr Rahim Gul, Dr Shabana, Dr Chand and Dr Mumtaz Khattak, have lost their lives after they contracted Hepatitis C through needle-stick injuries in operation theatres.

There are three standard procedures to sterilize instruments: steam under pressure, ethylene oxide gas and gamma rays.

There is an incorrect practice at the hospitals in which instruments are purportedly sterilized by dipping them in boiling water.

Frequent consumption of anti-biotics has been paving the way for bacteria to develop resistance to anti-biotics. For minor operations, dozens of anti-biotics are advised to patients.

According to WHO’s figures, 85 per cent of deaths are caused by infections. The situation in operation theatres of public sector hospitals is deplorable. At the Lady Reading Hospital, four patients are operated at the same time in a small room, exposing the OT workers and surgeons to the threat of prick from non-sterilized instruments.

At Khyber College of Dentistry many patients are treated with same instruments, leaving them at a high risk of contracting Hepatitis.