Imphal, November 06: Lack of bio-safety measures at the JN hospital may have caused at least seventeen hospital employees to suffer accidental exposure to HIV while treating patients, according to reliable sources.

The employees include doctors, nurses and nursing students.

The bio-safety measures include spirit, gloves, plaster cotton, drops van, hypochloride solution, soap, life saving drugs etc.

The slate government has stopped providing bio-safety materials to the JN hospital for the last three years.

Repeated requests by the hospital authorities for regular supply of such essential items have been turned down on the ground of financial crunch.

The situation has worsened because the hospital also lacks post exposure safety measures.

Hospital employees suspected to have been exposed to HIV accidentally are required to take safely measures within a specific period of exposure (post exposure profile).

The safety measures include drugs which are to be taken within a period of 6 hours from the moment exposure is suspected to have taken place.

Sources disclosed that kits containing drugs for within post exposure profile excess are to be made available round the clock in every ward of the hospital,, but such kits have never been seen in the hospital, despite the state occupying a prominent place on the world AIDS map.

It is also worth mentioning that JN hospital has been declared as reference hospital, for treating patients who are HIV positive.

RIMS and other health centres in the state do not treat HIV positive patients and invariably refer them to JN.

The chances of exposure to HIV at the hospital are high under such circumstances.

Sources also disclosed that patients and employees including doctors at the JN hospital have to bear the expense for drugs at the time of accidental exposure from their own pocket.

One course of drugs costs Rs 3,000 per week.

If the exposure takes place at odd hours, there is fear that there would be lapse of more than six hours in obtaining the drugs.

The Manipur AIDS Control Society, MACO, has been faulted for the failure to ensure adequate supply of bio-safety measures and drug kits to the hospital.

Speaking to Imphal Free Press, a spokesperson of the Nurses Association of Manipur said the association has been demanding time and again for regular supply of bio-safety measures and drug kits for JN as well as other state government health centres.

However, the concerned authorities have failed to heed their plea.

The spokesperson also pointed out that the monthly pay of a working nurse was only around Rs 9000, and they would have to spend about Rs 3000 on drugs for prevention of accidental exposure to HIV.

The government provides a miserly amount of Rs 150 as risk allowance.

The money spent on treatment for exposure to HIV is not reimbursed by the government, since it is not covered by the present medical reimbursement facilities provided to employees.

The spokesperson added that due to non-availability of bio-safety measures, there was constant harassment from patients.

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