The World Health Organization launched a new policy for
safer therapeutic injections at an international meeting on injection safety in
Geneva. Unsafe injections result in the transmission of blood-borne
pathogens from patient to patient (through re-use of syringes) and patient to
health care worker (from needle-stick injuries). PSI served on the Guideline
Development Group that drafted the “WHO guideline on the use of
safety-engineered syringes” that recommends two major means to enhance
injection safety globally:
·
Switching
to syringes that have sharps injury protection features (SIP devices) to
reduce sharps injuries to healthcare workers
·
Switching
to syringes that have re-use protection features (RUP) to reduce re-use that is
harmful to patients
Ideally, safety-engineered – or “smart” - syringes will have both sharps
injury and re-use protection. A recent cost-effectiveness study
commissioned by WHO shows that safety-engineered syringes can save on average
more than $14.00 for each $1.00 invested in their procurement.
WHO is recommending that all countries should transition by 2020 to the
exclusive use of WHO-prequalified (or equivalent) safety-engineered syringes
for all appropriate uses, and develop related national policies to bring about
a smooth transition.
The policy is the cornerstone of a new WHO Global Injection Safety
Campaign in development that will stress two further major components of
injection safety:
·
Reduction
of injection use frequency when and where injections are overused,
unnecessary and easily replaced by oral formulations
·
Promotion
of safe sharps waste management to protect the entire community
PSI has been campaigning for safer injection devices for many years,
through work with the WHO and PSI affiliates in collaboration with the Safe
Injection Global Network (SIGN). PSI affiliate SOLSICO in the Democratic
Republic of Congo advocated for retractable syringes between 2009 and 2011, raising awareness
about the risks of exposure to Hepatitis, HIV and even Ebola virus from
needle-stick injuries when using unsafe syringes.
In 2010 PSI made the video “Sharp Sense” to advocate for
injection safety. The video and accompanying discussion guide are
available in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
PSI calls on affiliates to urge their governments to implement the new
WHO policy and to develop national policy to ensure full transition to the
exclusive use of safety engineered injection devices by 2020.
Please monitor the WHO’s recommendations below and how they are applied
in your country.
·
International
and local manufacturers should be strongly encouraged to switch to
safety-engineered injection devices production as soon as possible.
·
Countries
should accompany their national policies on injection safety with a clear
implementation strategy, including healthcare workers’ training.
·
Donor
agencies and development partners should fund the procurement of only
safety-engineered injection devices in projects and programmes.
·
Donor
agencies financing injectable products (vaccines, contraceptives, medications)
must also finance appropriate quantities of safety-engineered injection devices
and provide for healthcare workers’ training.
·
Develop
standards for rational use and supply of standard disposable syringes for
specific procedures and settings where they remain necessary (for example,
syringes with a re-use prevention feature are not appropriate for certain
medical procedures such as maintenance of intravenous lines, local anaesthesia
and nasal feeding).
This is a highly beneficial and long awaited development for healthcare
workers, and PSI will be collecting information about how the new WHO policy
affects our members. We look forward to feedback from our affiliates. Please
send information to Odile.Frank@world-psi.org.
In solidarity,
Rosa Pavanelli
General Secretary of PSI