New type of syringe will stop the spread of hepatitis C and HIV
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The repeated use of syringes and needles leads to the infection of thousands of people annually, including diseases that are difficult to treat and incurable.
Millions of people around the world suffer from unsafe injections, which could be avoided if all countries in the health programs provided for the use of safe injections.
In this regard, WHO intends to implement a new policy aimed at the introduction of safe injections and to help a number of countries on the way to this.
According to data provided by WHO in 2010, due to secondary use of syringes and non-compliance with safe injections, about two million people were infected with hepatitis C, and about 40,000 people with HIV.
WHO has already published new recommendations detailing the importance of a policy for the safety of injection administration, also focusing on the characteristics of syringes, including safety measures for health workers.
WHO is also urged to reduce the number of injections and do only those that are necessitated by a vital need.
Every year, sixteen billion injections are introduced worldwide, of which 5% are vaccinations for children and adults, and 5% are other procedures (injectable contraceptives, blood transfusions, etc.). The rest of the injections are for the administration of drugs intramuscularly, subcutaneously, etc. In most cases, such injections can be replaced with oral medications.
Cases of infection after injections occur around the world. According to the study, in 2007, a massive infection with hepatitis C in one of the states of America was due to a doctor who injected an anesthetic to one of the patients with hepatitis C, and then used a needle to fill other doses from one ampoule, thereby infecting the analgesic drug , which led to an outbreak of the disease.
At the end of last year, more than two hundred people, including children, were infected with HIV in a city in Cambodia, which was also the result of unsafe injections.
WHO recommends the use of a new type of syringe, in which a special device is built to prevent their reuse. In a number of models, the piston has a weak design, which leads to fracture upon repeated use, other models are equipped with a metal clip that locks the piston after use or retracted after use by the needle.
In addition, specialists are working on a new kind of syringes, which will protect the health workers from accidental injections with used syringes. Experts plan to create a syringe, in which after the introduction of the drug the needle will be closed independently, which will prevent accidental injury to health workers.
WHO recommends that all countries fully switch to new types of syringes within the next five years, except when it will interfere with the manipulation, for example, during blood transfusions.
WHO also addressed a call to producers, and recommended that the production of new types of syringes should be started (or increased) as early as possible.
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