581 sanitary workers infected with hepatitis C, TB

Information surfaced after blood screening tests were conducted on employees


APP April 12, 2018
PHOTO: SHAHID BUKHARI

MULTAN: At least 581 sanitary workers from the Multan Waste Management Company (MWMC) and the Municipal Corporation Multan (MCM) are infected with life-threatening diseases after their blood was screened.

These employees are performing duties in 68 urban union councils of the city.

The reports revealed that 300 sanitary workers tested positive for hepatitis C, 275 had contracted Tuberculosis (TB) and six others were HIV positive, official sources stated.

Moreover, most of the sanitary workers were above the age of 50. Sanitary workers should follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) while at work to avoid contracting diseases, officials said.

MWMC Operations Manager Usman Khursheed confirmed the report. Most of the sanitary workers do not want to use gloves, masks and other safety tools stating that such things become a burden for them, he lamented.

“We have provided the workers with gloves and masks but most of them refuse saying that they are unable to breathe with masks on and cannot collect trash with gloves on,” he pointed out.

Khursheed said that most of the sanitary workers were illiterate and required advocacy exercises in order to convince them to use safety items.

They were even reluctant to undergo blood screening and had to be forced to give blood samples.

The workers were screened on the directives of the Punjab local government. The ailing workers have been issued cards so that they can avail treatment free-of-cost from government hospitals, he added.

He said that MWMC had also vaccinated workers against influenza few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Sanitation Officer Abdul Shakoor Bhutta said that the union had been asking the higher ups to provide them with safety articles so that workers could perform their duties without putting their health at risk.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2018.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ