— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate
Health care providers’ re-use of syringes caused an estimated 1.7
million new HBV infections in 2010, according to a World Health
Organization (WHO) report. In many developing countries, syringes are
improperly sterilized and re-used to save money.
To stop unsafe injections, WHO is promoting
universal adoption of “smart syringes,” that allow only one injection
per syringe by the year 2020 to reduce transmission of hepatitis B and C
and HIV infections worldwide. Smart syringes work by preventing users
from pulling the plunger back up after it is depressed into the syringe
to inject the medication.
HBV, which can remain infectious for days after
it has dried on hard surfaces, is easily transmitted through reused
syringes and medical equipment.
In the past century, unsafe injections have
caused millions of bloodborne infections globally, especially in
cultures that believe this fast delivery of medication is the most
effective. In some regions, doctors can charge more for injecting
medicine than dispensing it in pill form, which contributes to the
spread of bloodborne infections when syringes are re-used.
In addition to causing 1.7 million hepatitis B cases, in 2010 unsafe injections caused:
- Between 16,939 and 33,877 new HIV infections
- And between 157,592 and 315,120 new hepatitis C infections, according to a June 2014 study published in the journal PLOS One.
In 2000, WHO estimated that unsafe injections
caused 5%, 32% and 40% of new HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C
infections respectively. After an intense global education campaign to
educate providers about the dangers of unsafe injections, re-use of
syringes declined markedly.
“Despite a 13% population growth, there was a
reduction of 87% and 83% respectively in the absolute numbers of HIV
and hepatitis C infections transmitted through injections,” they wrote.
For hepatitis B, the reduction in new infections declined dramatically
by 91% due in part to the additional impact of widespread hepatitis B
immunization.
Source: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?
id=10.1371
/journal.pone.0099677
Source: www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda
/2015/02/24/
388785319/how-did-a-celibate
-82-year-old-buddhist-monk-contract-hiv
http://www.hbvadvocate.org/news/HBJ12.3.htmLabels: needle reuse, smart syringes, unsafe injections
