AWARENESS AMONG BARBERS ABOUT HEALTH HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR PROFESSION

Background: Barbers are important professionals of the community which are still owned, cared and financed by the community especially the rural one. Barbers besides performing duties in social events like marriage, circumcision etc is also responsible for hair and nail cutting. In urban settings they have developed their profession by incorporating facial massage and make-up. It is the need of their profession to utilize instruments like knife, blades etc. The objective of the study was to assess awareness among barbers regarding health hazards related to their profession and to identify professional practices linked with infection transmission. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Kharian city of district Gujrat, located almost mid-way between Lahore and Islamabad, from June 2003 to September 2003. Sample of 50 barbers were selected by simple random sampling technique. Data was collected by using a semi-structured questionnaire and a checklist. Data was analyzed using SPSS 10. Results: The mean age of barbers interviewed was 33.3 years with SD±8.3. It was found that 29 (58%) barbers denied about any health hazards associated with their profession whereas 21 (42%) had knew about hepatitis, AIDS; they also described the role of contaminated blades, clips, towels, apron, and combs in causing skin problems. It was observed that 90 % of barbers did not wash hands, 80 % did not change the apron, 66 % did not change towel during barbering services to different customers. Besides 7 (14%