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900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

nytimes.com

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Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#11

Post by oefrha »

egtiller wrote: post #2

This news report makes my mind boggle. Reuse of syringes? In this century? The doctor says he was too poor to afford syringes! So reuse of syringes is the solution? Bill the cost of the syringe to the patient. Ask for donations. Do whatever it takes but never reuse a syringe. How can a doctor find reuse of syringes remotely acceptable?

The doctor says the parents of the patient were too poor to afford syringes; and the family was already starving in order to pay for the medicine.

Wouldn’t it be nice if patients could afford anything. Reality doesn’t work that way though, and some first world people just can’t imagine what real poverty is like (I can’t either).

> When Mr. Jalbani protested, he said, Mr. Ghanghro snapped at him and told him he was using an old syringe because Mr. Jalbani was too poor to pay for a new one.

> “He said, ‘If you don’t want my treatment, go to another doctor.’” Mr. Jalbani said. “My wife and I had to starve ourselves to pay for the medicine.”

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#12

Post by minitech »

Alex3917 wrote: post #4

I mean not exactly surprising. We literally just had a measles outbreak in Brooklyn last year. Vaccination rates are basically a prediction market on events like this happening.

What does measles vaccination in Brooklyn have to do with syringe reuse in Ratodero?

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#13

Post by solstice »

andrewstuart wrote: post #6
fouc wrote: post #5

>Health officials now say that Mr. Ghanghro is unlikely to be the sole cause of the outbreak. Visiting health workers saw many cases of doctors reusing syringes and I.V. needles. Barbers take the same razor to the faces of multiple customers, they said, and roadside dentists crack away at patients’ teeth on sidewalks with unsterilized tools.

Even here in Melbourne the barber offers to use a cutthroat razor to give the neck a clean shave after a haircut. He's always a little puzzled when I'm "no thanks" to the razor.

Woah, I never thought about this possibility.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#14

Post by oefrha »

knzhou wrote: post #10

We will possibly end up with nearly 1000 children killed by a single man. A sobering reminder that our problems are, almost always, nothing in comparison.

> Health officials now say that Mr. Ghanghro is unlikely to be the sole cause of the outbreak. Visiting health workers saw many cases of doctors reusing syringes and I.V. needles. Barbers take the same razor to the faces of multiple customers, they said, and roadside dentists crack away at patients’ teeth on sidewalks with unsterilized tools.

Sounds widespread, probably not just that one man.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#15

Post by strainer »

egtiller wrote: post #2

This news report makes my mind boggle. Reuse of syringes? In this century? The doctor says he was too poor to afford syringes! So reuse of syringes is the solution? Bill the cost of the syringe to the patient. Ask for donations. Do whatever it takes but never reuse a syringe. How can a doctor find reuse of syringes remotely acceptable?

In a hard place at a push, syringes could be sterilized before reuse. Sterilization is not effective against prions but some doctors without supplies could possibly resort to it.

The story is gut wrenching. Children in poverty need free basic health services everywhere.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#16

Post by knzhou »

fouc wrote: post #5

>Health officials now say that Mr. Ghanghro is unlikely to be the sole cause of the outbreak. Visiting health workers saw many cases of doctors reusing syringes and I.V. needles. Barbers take the same razor to the faces of multiple customers, they said, and roadside dentists crack away at patients’ teeth on sidewalks with unsterilized tools.

Jesus. These are the medical standards of the early 19th century. On net, it's probably better than nothing at all, but there is so much further to go.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#18

Post by sures »

andrewstuart wrote: post #8
egtiller wrote: post #2

This news report makes my mind boggle. Reuse of syringes? In this century? The doctor says he was too poor to afford syringes! So reuse of syringes is the solution? Bill the cost of the syringe to the patient. Ask for donations. Do whatever it takes but never reuse a syringe. How can a doctor find reuse of syringes remotely acceptable?

This is how poverty works - they probably genuinely have no way if getting the needed stuff even if they knew how important it is.

This! And the general lack of safety culture also plays a role in incidents like this.

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#19

Post by ehsankia »

fouc wrote: post #5

>Health officials now say that Mr. Ghanghro is unlikely to be the sole cause of the outbreak. Visiting health workers saw many cases of doctors reusing syringes and I.V. needles. Barbers take the same razor to the faces of multiple customers, they said, and roadside dentists crack away at patients’ teeth on sidewalks with unsterilized tools.

The paragraph before was far more perplexing to me.

> The doctor recently renewed his medical certificate and now works as a general practitioner at a government hospital on the outskirts of Ratodero, despite laws that make the reuse of syringes an offense that is not eligible for bail.

So he was arrested for it, then while still not convicted, got a new certificate and is back at it?

Re: 900 Children Test Positive for H.I.V. in Pakistani city of Ratodero

#20

Post by andrewstuart »

solstice wrote: post #13
andrewstuart wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even here in Melbourne the barber offers to use a cutthroat razor to give the neck a clean shave after a haircut. He's always a little puzzled when I'm "no thanks" to the razor.

Woah, I never thought about this possibility.

Even if you don't get HIV from the razor you could still get one of the forms of hepatitis.

I've never seen a barber with an autoclave for cleaning his equipment.

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