Chemical Safety & Security in Pakistan

In May 2022, IGC and its collaborating partners implemented a chemical safety and security webinar series targeting hospitals, academic universities, and industry personnel in both the Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan. The series provided participants valuable information on the history of chemical use in warfare, international safeguards to keep chemicals secure and public safety. The series included tools to recognize various chemical injuries, discussed basic principles of chemical security and described best practices for managing chemicals at the various sites of chemical use and storage.

Industry personnel and medical professionals from Indus Hospital Health Network participated in the first webinar series representing the province of Sindh. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, emergency medicine and hospital staff from Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar engaged with the subject matter experts (SMEs) on various chemical topics.

IGC, in collaboration with Emory University and Sandia National Laboratories conducted two, two-day chemical security webinars in Pakistan. Emergency first responders and pharmacists from Lady Reading Hospital and academia participants from COMSATS University Islamabad learned how to complete chemical and pharmaceutical-based agent (PBA) risk assessments, with an emphasis on discussing chemicals of concern. The participants also discussed chemicals of concerns’ historical use and varying levels of toxicity with the course instructors.