ISLAMABAD: Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has launched a campaign to discourage administration of unnecessary and unsafe injection.

The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) is supporting the initiative under its Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), says a statement of the ministry.

The statement said the initiative was an evidence-based policy response to the problem of blood borne infections from unsafe use of injections.

Recent studies and documentations have established the association between unsafe therapeutic injections and transmission of dangerous diseases like hepatitis and HIV/Aids.

It is also known that patients who receive higher number of injections are at a higher risk of contracting these illnesses primarily due to syringe reuse.

It has been found that 94pc of injections in Pakistan are unnecessary and can be avoided by preferring oral medication.

In May 2019, a sudden outbreak of HIV was observed in Larkana (Ratodero). As the matter was of great concern, the government requested the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate the matter.

A WHO-led team reached Pakistan and key tasks for the team included ascertaining the source of the outbreak and controlling it; providing technical expertise, particularly in the areas of HIV testing, paediatric HIV treatment and family counselling; and ensuring adequate supplies of rapid diagnostic tests and antiretroviral medicines for both adults and children, as well as single-use needles and syringes.

Later, the then special assistant to prime minister on health Dr Zafar Mirza announced that the investigation report revealed that reuse of injections was the reason behind spread of HIV cases in Larkana.

He had said in Pakistan 90pc cases of HIV are spread due to reuse of injections.

The reuse of syringes’ problem is widespread and has been documented from different corners of the county.

A study published in 2019 about private health care providers in Sindh and Punjab had revealed a very high percentage of syringe reuse and specific factors associated with it.

The major reason was demand by patients to which providers complied. Patients were generally unaware of the harms of injections and syringe reuse.

Such studies highlight the importance of appropriate health behaviours- avoiding unnecessary injections and insisting on unused syringe, in this case.

The NHS initiative on unsafe injection practices will address this behavioural change through several interventions including the recently launched media campaign to raise awareness.

The campaign involves messaging through newspapers, TV, radio and social media.

The message has also been adopted in regional languages to target rural population in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The awareness campaign will help in achieving the objectives set out in the National Action Plan to reduce injection overuse, curtail reuse of syringes, institute proper waste disposal and promote oral medication.

Published in Dawn, Jannuary 6th, 2021