Educational Intervention among Barbers to Improve Their Knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS: A Pilot Study from a South Asian Country.

One of the Millennium Development Goals is to combat HIV, the burden of which continues to increase in developing countries, like Pakistan. The prevalence is high among the high-risk population, and the use of unsterilized surgical instruments, traditional straight razors, and blades adds to the spread of this disease. This study assesses the effect of an educational intervention on the knowledge of 70 barbers practising in a suburban community in Pakistan regarding HIV and its symptoms and transmission. At baseline, only 10% of the barbers reported that they had ever heard about HIV compared to 49% after the intervention. Similarly, 4% and 6% of them had good knowledge at baseline about symptoms and transmission of the disease, increasing to 39% and 43% respectively, after the intervention (p<0.001). The results of this educational intervention warrant consideration of activation of mass campaigns to increase public awareness about bloodborne diseases and to educate personnel who might harm the persons in their communities by unsafe practices.

Presencia en la Literatura Universal de charlatanes, sacamuelas y barberos / Presence of quacks, tooth-pullers and barbers in the world literature

La Literatura Universal, fuente de información y conocimiento, medio para enriquecer el acervo cognoscitivo y cultural de los profesionales de la estomatología; recoge en sus páginas las raíces de esta profesión, manifestada en la labor que realizaron los charlatanes, sacamuelas y barberos, así como el papel que jugaron en su construcción y desarrollo. El objetivo de este trabajo es identificar la presencia, en estas creaciones, de la actividad desarrollada por ellos. Se realizó la búsqueda bibliográfica en libros impresos y automatizados en Internet, Google Académico, para lo cual se usaron los descriptores charlatanes, sacamuelas, barberos, dientes, boca. Se consultaron quince obras y seleccionaron ocho en cuyas páginas se recogen referencias al tema que nos ocupó. La información se organizó sobre la base del orden cronológico de los autores. El estudio de las obras de la Literatura Universal consultadas nos permitió reconocer excelentes descripciones de la actividad de los charlatanes, sacamuelas y barberos, los cuales constituyen raíces históricas de la labor de los profesionales de la estomatología(AU)

The world literature is a source of information and knowledge and a means of enhancing the cognitive and cultural stock of the dental professionals. Its pages collect the roots of this profession expressed in the work of quacks, tooth-pullers and barbers and their role in the creation and development of this discipline. The objective of this paper was to identify the presence of the activities carried out by them in these creations. Literature search was made in printed and computerized books and in the academic google on Internet, for which we used subject headings as quacks, tooth-pullers, barbers, teeth, mouth. Fifteen works were consulted; eight of them were selected for this paper since they made reference to this topic. The gathered information was organized by the chronological order of the authors. The study of these documents from the world literature allowed us to be aware of the excellent descriptions of the activities performed by quacks, tooth-pullers and barbers as part of the historical roots of the work of dental professionals(AU)

Awareness and risk factors associated with barbers in transmission of hepatitis B and C from Pakistani population: barber’s role in viral transmission.

Background: In Pakistan, most patients with Hepatitis B and C have history of facial and armpit shaving from barbers. Objective: Evaluate the awareness and risk factors associated with barbers in transmission of Hepatitis B and C. Subjects and methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the twin capital cities of Pakistan between January and July 2009. Five hundred and eight barbershops were surveyed. Results: Out of 508 barber shops, 99.8% and 98.2% were washing their razor with water and water plus antiseptic solution, respectively, while 99.8% were using new blades. Only 39.6% knew that hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) were viral diseases, 26.6% knew that it can lead to cancer, 90.7% thought that hepatitis could be transferred by blade sharing, 47.8% knew that a vaccine for HBV was available, and 43.0% had education beyond the primary level. None of the barbers used a new or washed apron/towel on every customer. Conclusion: In Pakistan, a small number of barbers are shaving clients with an old style razor with a permanent blade. There is moderate awareness about the various modes of transmission of hepatitis among the barbers, and most of them don’t know about vaccination. A predominant number of them are considering interferon treatment as a vaccine for hepatitis B and C.