Safety Meter

A campaign for increasing health care safety for paramedics will soon launch in the city.

Over the next 51 days,’Jyot-se-Jyot’ – safety first campaign for increasing awareness on healthcare safety for nurses and paramedics to ensure all-round safety of patients will be launched. Organised by the Indian Academy of Microbiologists,Haffkine Institute and BD,the initiative will involve panel discussions,symposia,conferences,workshops and technical training. Healthcare workers,paramedics and hospital managements across Pune,Nashik,Aurangabad,Nagpur,Thane and Mumbai will be a part of the programme. Sharp injury and blood and body fluid exposures are occupational hazards to healthcare workers. Dr Bhaskar Sonowal,technical advisor,infection control and patient safety,BD,said,“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO),every year around 16 million healthcare workers worldwide suffer from injuries and Hepatitis-related infections at workplace/hospitals,of which almost 4.5 million suffer from Hepatitis C while almost 70,000-1,50,000 suffer from HIV infections. Further,it has been noted that almost 1.3 million healthcare workers die of such infections every year globally.”

Dr Nita Munshi,HOD Pathology,Ruby Hall Clinic,pioneered the first ever published study in India on occupational exposure infections and NSI among healthcare workers. The aim of the study was to accumulate data from four major hospitals across the four zones in India and understand and analyse the incidence of sharp injury and blood and body fluid exposure among healthcare workers.

Commenting on the study and the campaign,Dr Nita Munshi said that the unique programme focuses on increasing the awareness and drive the concept of ‘own safety’ of the healthcare worker in the hospital environment. Dr Abhay Chowdhary,director,Haffkine Institute,said,”Safety continues to be an elusive goal for the healthcare system and it is essential for a hospital to develop systems that can address patient needs and thus safeguard healthcare workers.” A series of initiatives will be conducted across Maharashtra and will continue till Doctors Day,July 1.