Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct 16: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today expressed grave concern over non-vaccination of health workers despite setting in of flu season.
The president of DAK, Nisar-ul-Hassan said that with the scare of swine flu looming over the valley, health authorities have failed to provide free vaccines to healthcare workers.
“Unvaccinated doctors, nurses and other workers in healthcare are risking lives of patients who are vulnerable to flu related complications and deaths. If doctors or nurses get flu they can pass it to hundreds of patients they come into contact with each day and many of whom have conditions that render them more susceptible to infection,” the DAK president said.
He said that the studies have shown that low vaccination rates among healthcare workers lead to institutional and community outbreaks and medical literature convincingly demonstrates that high levels of staff immunity confer protection on those patients who cannot or have not been vaccinated.
He said: “Influenza can disrupt continuity of care and vaccination of healthcare workers reduces influenza infection. Healthcare workers have a responsibility to protect their own health and well-being to ensure availability of care,” he said, adding: “Furthermore, they have a duty not to harm a patient when they know there is a significant risk of harm through infection.”
It is unethical to leave healthcare workers unimmunized as it endangers public health, he said, adding that during previous flu season majority of healthcare workers were unvaccinated which was responsible for H1N1 outbreak in the Valley.
“If healthcare workers remain unvaccinated, the rest of the population might be even more challenging to rally. No one should be working in healthcare without a flu shot and State in order to protect public health is duty bound to make free vaccines available for healthcare workers,” the DAK president added.
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