Unsafe injection practices in Gujarat, India.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to obtain comprehensive data on injection practices, especially about safety issues, among health services providers and residents in the Anand district of Gujarat, India. METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional study. Stratified random sampling method was used to select primary healthcare facilities, and the field method of randomisation was used to select families in the general population in the catchment areas of the selected health facilities. Thus, 182 health facilities and 510 families (2,080 population) were covered in the study. RESULTS: Almost 77 percent of service providers had unsafe injection practices, including the use of a boiling pan for sterilisation, recapping of needles and exposure to body fluids. The proportion of unsafe injection practices was higher among Government health service providers. The prevalence of needle stick injuries (NSI) among service providers was 52.2 percent and the annual incidence of NSI was 19 percent. 21.6 percent of the population studied had received one or more injections in the past one year, and the average number of injections per head per year in the present study was 0.2. CONCLUSION: The study revealed a high proportion of unsafe injection practices in the district studied, but a low average number of injections per head per year in the community. Serious issues regarding injection safety need to be addressed urgently. There is a need to develop local guidelines for injection usage and implement a community-based educational programme for the people.

Management of bio-medical waste: awareness and practices in a district of Gujarat.

With the objective of assessing the level of awareness about the various aspects of biomedical waste and disposal practices by the medical practitioners this study was conducted. It was a cross sectional study. 30 hospitals with more than 30 beds minimum were randomly selected from Sabarkantha district, Gujarat. The doctors and auxiliary staff of those 30 hospitals were the study population. While all the doctors knew about the existence of the law related to biomedical waste but details were not known. Doctors were aware of risk of HIV and Hepatitis B and C, whereas auxiliary staff (ward boys, ayabens, sweepers) had very poor knowledge about it. There was no effective waste segregation, collection, transportation and disposal system at any hospital in the district. There is an immediate and urgent need to train and educate all doctors and the staff to adopt an effective waste management practices.