GENERAL AWARENESS AND ATTITUDE REGARDING BIOSAFETY MEASURES AMONG TECHNICIAN WORKING IN CLINICAL LABORATORIES OF PAKISTAN: A MULTI-CENTRE STUDY

ABSTRACT 

Aims:  The aim of the study was to find out the awareness and the biosafety measures that are taken by hospital based laboratory technicians during their routine work in clinical laboratories of Pakistan.  

Setting: Public and private sector hospital based laboratory technicians were recruited from all major cities of Pakistan. 

Methods: A total of 1782 laboratory technicians were interviewed from major public sector hospitals and few private hospital laboratories all over Pakistan. After obtaining informed consent, the laboratory technicians were interviewed and a questionnaire was completed by the interviewer.  

Results: A total of 1647 (92.4%) males and 135 (7.6%) females participated in the study, with about 59.7% having more than 5 years of work experience. Results showed that 28.4% laboratory technicians from Punjab, 35.7% from Sindh, 32% from Balochistan and 38.4% from Khyber Pakhtoon Khawa did not use any kind of personal protective equipments. Almost 46% of the respondents (34.2% from Punjab, 61.9% from Sindh, 25.2% from Balochistan and 85% from KPK) said that they have reused the used syringes either occasionally or regularly. About 30.7% of the respondents said that they discard the used syringes directly into municipal dustbins. About 66.7% said that there are no separate bins for sharps therefore they throw these in the municipal dustbins. Mouth pipetting was reported by 28.3% technicians. Standard operating procedures were not available in 67.2% labs, and accident records were not maintained in 83.4%. No formal biosafety training had been provided to 84.2% of the respondents.  

Conclusion: There is lack of awareness about good laboratory practices and biosafety measures in laboratory technicians in Pakistan. There is a need to do training programs for these workers to increase their awareness.