BHURBAN, May 31: Excessive use of injections and syringes has put Pakistan in the list of high risk countries with respect to contraction of hepatitis B,C and HIV/AIDS, Health Secretary Ijaz Rahim said here on Friday.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of a workshop on Hospital Waste Management organized by the Health Services Academy (HSA), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and World Health Organization (WHO).

He, however, said the present AIDS prevalence rate in the country was the lowest in the world.

“Pakistan has topped among the countries in the unnecessary utilization of syringes which is evident from the fact that every other doctor or quack prescribes injections and anti-biotics,” he said.

A recent study suggests that 12 billion syringes are consumed annually in the country, while different hospitals produce 16,000 tons of waste in a year, out of which 2,500 tons of waste is considered to be highly infectious.

Referring to the state of blood safety in Pakistan, the secretary said 1.5 million bags of blood were utilized in the country annually, out of which only 20 per cent were screened.

The situation poses a potential threat of hepatitis and HIV/AIDS epidemic, he said.

Mr Rahim said the number of deaths in the last two years due to the outbreak of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus had surpassed the statistics of the last 20 years.

Similarly, 50,000 to 60,000 people in Kurram Agency and Sindh were infected by a skin disease called Laishmaniasis, mainly because of influx of Afghan refugees, who suffered from the disease, and drought situation. However, he appreciated the efforts of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and WHO which helped in controlling the outbreaks.

He said a link should be created between public and private sector hospitals and a system of third party inspection be introduced, besides community participation, for better hospital waste management system.

Earlier, Director HSA Dr Abdul Majid Rajput said there were 120,000 beds both in the private and public sector hospitals, out of which 2,500 tons of risk-based clinical waste was produced every day.

He said the HSA had framed hospital waste management rules 2002, suggesting guidelines for proper disposal of waste. The law also asks for a minimum use of incinerators due to dangerous emissions.

The rules said the waste management plans of every hospital should include the provision of segregating risk waste from non- risk waste in the wards, operation theatres, laboratories or any other hospital room.