The knowledge, practices and the extent of occupational exposures to blood among healthcare workers in Colombo; A cross sectional study

Abstract

The estimated number of people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLHIV) in Sri Lanka is about 3000 (1) and as of end 2011, a cumulative total of 1,463 HIV cases has been reported to the National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP), Sri Lanka (2). These figures are comparatively low in a country with 20 million people. The country is currently having low level of HIV prevalence among adult population (<0.03%) and even among high risk populations HIV prevalence is estimated to be less than 1% (3). Therefore, the lack of knowledge, skills, and experience of healthcare workers in handling occupational exposure to potentially infectious body fluids make them to carry stigmatizing attitudes towards PLHIV. Therefore, it is important to comprehend the level of occupational exposures and knowledge on management of blood exposures among healthcare workers in order to reduce possible discrimination of PLHIV at healthcare settings. The objective of this article is to describe the prevailing level of occupational exposures to blood, knowledge and practices on accidental occupational exposure among the healthcare workers. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljv.v3i1.5408 Sri Lanka Journal of Venereology Vol.3(1) 2012 pp.23-28