KARACHI, June 14: Simple washing of hands with soaps can bring about considerable reduction in the rate of infectious diseases, said some professionals at a symposium held on Saturday.

The speakers said that awareness about the merits of using soaps regularly should be spread among common people so that they could be protected against infectious diseases to a large extent. The event was organized by the Pakistan Medical Association in collaboration with the Health Oriented Preventive Education and the Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan.

A couple of doctors were of the opinion that duties and taxes levied on soaps should be withdrawn to make them affordable to the low income group of society.

Referring to a study conducted in the slums of Karachi, Dr Mubina Agboatwalla said that regular use of soaps reduced the prevalence of diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and impetigo (a skin disorder) from 44 to 47 per cent.

Under the 42-week study, said Dr Agboatwalla, free soaps were provided to about 300 households. About 4,800 children were asked to wash their hands and take bath regularly. The diseases were reduced with the interruption in the transfer of pathogens from children’s hands to their stomach, said Dr Agboatwalla.

She pointed out that her NGO, which had undertaken the study in collaboration with a couple of other organizations, had simply concentrated on changing the behaviour of common people.

“Our study has shown that a simple message can bring about an improvement in the situation,” she remarked.

The general secretary of the Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan, Dr Altaf Ahmed, said that the main aim of washing with soaps was to reduce the number of transient flora or pathogenic organisms, which otherwise remain on hands.

“In the developing world, out of 39.5 million deaths, around 9.2 million are caused by the infectious and parasitic diseases,” he said.

Dr Ahmed also spoke about the nosocomial diseases or hospital acquired infections. He said that these infections appear in patients after three days of their stay in hospitals, while five per cent of such patients carried these infections back to their homes. These infections caused rapid spread of diseases among their relatives and friends, especially in case of unhygienic conditions, he added.

Advocating good infection control practices in hospitals, he said that washing of hands with soaps could be made mandatory at hospitals.

The chairman of Scientific Committee of PMA, Dr Sirajuddaula Syed, said that the central excise duty was levied on soaps just as it was levied on tobacco.

He said that excise duty was normally imposed on such items, the supply of which was needed to be controlled. “Why the duty has been levied on soaps, I will never understand,” he remarked.

He also narrated the incident of a young woman, who had been saved from a rare disease called ZE Syndrome through timely treatment.

However, he said that she died of typhoid later. The death, as a result of typhoid, should be termed a crime, he remarked.

Dr Syed urged the organizers and the media to continue the campaign on prevention of diseases going for years. “Don’t let this campaign end. Write about it regularly and organize such events to spread awareness,” he suggested.

Tariq A Niazi said that every child in Pakistan, on an average, faced three episodes of diarrhoea annually. He said that the studies conducted by his organization had shown that the poor spent Rs39 on the purchase of soaps every month. “On the other hand, they used to spend around Rs500 on healthcare in emergencies,” he said. He concluded by saying that the poor would be better off if they used soaps regularly.

M Athar Saeed, former president of Karachi Income Tax Bar Association, said that life was too precious to be wasted either because one did not care or because one could not afford soaps. He was of the view that government should abolish taxes on soaps and its ingredients.

He also suggested that the authorities should consider giving incentives to the soap manufacturers willing to donate their products to the poor people.

Earlier, Hamid Manzoor of the PMA said that his association was launching a nation-wide campaign with the theme of “Hand- washing for Life”. He informed that another event in this connection would soon be organized in Islamabad. He demanded that the government should abolish direct and indirect taxes on soaps.

The proceedings of the symposium were conducted by Agha Masood.