By PTI

New Delhi: Rural India is more at risk as far as unsafe injections during vaccinations are concerned, according to a new study, “Assessment of injection practises in India” conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The proportion of unsafe injections is about 10% higher in villages as compared to cities. The study found that more vaccines were prescribed to urban communities than to rural ones.

About 21.6% of the population in urban areas were prescribed vaccines as compared to 15.9% in rural areas.

“The proportion of unsafe injections was around 65.9%, nearly 10% more when compared to those in cities (54.9%). The difference was maintained when data was stratified according to the type of health facilities and type of health providers,” the study, which included 85 medical colleges from across the country, said.

Besides, the proportion of injections carrying a potential risk of spread of blood borne viruses is also somewhat higher in villages (33.4%) as compared to that in urban areas (26.6%).

“These differences in injection safety could be explained by the higher use of glass syringes in rural areas, variations in the profile of prescriber and their safety records and training of the injection givers,” the study said.

However, availability and fundamental status of sterilization equipment was similar in the two areas but appropriate waste disposal was consistently a bigger problem at health facilities located in villages.