Dentistry often involves procedures, which if not carried out with proper infection control protocols, cause hepatitis-B, hepatitis-C and AIDS.
However, those manning the dental outdoor patient department of Sardar Begum Hospital, Sialkot are either ignorant of this health hazard or ignore it at will.
Of late, I visited this government hospital and found paramedics using one needle for two patients and re-using blood-contaminated instruments after a simple wipe-off. On inquiry, they lied to my face that the needles were new and sterile. The in charge of OPD, too, was in a state of denial.
Regrettably, most of the visitors to the hospital, totalling 40 daily on average, were oblivious to their high vulnerability to infections. The situation demands strict enforcement of infection control protocols at countrywide health facilities. And the government may form special medical and dental teams countrywide for the purpose.
It is also incumbent on health practitioners, especially the dentists, not to compromise their professional commitments by converting the Hippocratic Oath they take on their graduation into hypocritical one. They have the right to earn money but that shouldn’t happen at the expense of people’s health. Patients, too, should break their silence and speak up for their health.
SADIA ZAHEER
Sialkot
