Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) has introduced a comprehensive infection control program to prevent patients and employees from hospital acquired infections (HAI).

CHK Infectious Diseases and Waste Management Spokesperson Dr Gul Munir Vistro, said that CHK administration had introduced a comprehensive mechanism to save visiting patients, outpatients, patient attendants, doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and other support staff from hospital acquired infections.

“An estimated 20 to 25 per cent patients infected from health facilities during treatment every year in developing countries including Pakistan by not following standard operating procedures (SOPs); however, the ratio f hospitals acquired infections is very low in European countries,” he said.

Keeping in view this situation, infection control program has been introduced at CHK to identify risk factors for infection, provide education about infection control to healthcare workers, decrease burden of hospital acquired infections such as surgical site, ventilator acquired pneumonia, bloodstream infection, and urinary tract infection.

He further said that vaccination of hospital employees against hepatitis B, provision of guidelines regarding standard practices of infection, promotion of research in infection control, occupational health and safety, public awareness, maintaining data of hospital acquired infections and infection control practices are not followed.

Vistro explained that Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), Cholera, acute viral hepatitis A-E, typhoid, dengue, influenza A & B, H1N1 & H2, N3, meningococcal meningitis, TB, HIV, measles, naegleria fowleri meningo encephalitis and chikungunya are infectious diseases.

He said that the CHK administration had opened Infectious Diseases OPD for treatment of patients suffering from infectious diseases where Assistant Professor Azizullh Khan Dihloo had been posted as head of Infectious Diseases OPD. He claimed that billion of rupees could be saved annually in Pakistan by spending on preventive and promotion strategies like European countries.