Against the backdrop of the hepatitis outbreak ain Modasa taluka in Gujarat, the state government is planning to promote safe injections through the use of auto disable (AD) syringes for vaccination in the affected areas. The move comes in the wake of a campaign post union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss' mandate for AD syringes. The campaign, by Marc Koska, founder of SafePoint Trust, a UK-based charitable organisation, is working towards curbing the menace of reused syringes. According to reports, over 80 people have succumbed to hepatitis recently.
"After meeting Dr Ramadoss, I met the government of Gujarat, which has promised me to work in the direction of promoting AD syringes in the state. The government has openly accepted and recognised the qualities of AD syringes and has also asked us to come back and work for the cause in the future. The union ministry has made it mandatory for all central government hospitals under CGHS to completely switch over to AD syringes complying with ISO standards across all sectors from April 30. Globally, there are many companies and in India too there are over 30 manufacturers and a few companies like Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices which are producing AD syringes," Koska said.
Available at Rs 2.50 each, AD syringes have a locking ring in the syringe barrel, which disables the syringe once it is used, unlike normal disposable syringes which can be used a number of times, leading to an increase in the risk of infections. About 500 million AD syringes are produced around the world a year, which represents only 1.5 per cent of the total market as there is huge opportunity, Koska said.
According to a report by WHO, worldwide 1.3 million people die each year from receiving unsafe medical injections and in India, it is estimated that approximately 3 lakh people die every year as a result of infected injections. In India, the average person has 3-5 medical injections per year and more than 50 per cent are administered by unsterile and reused injections.
"A study by the Government of India in 2002 states that 62 per cent of injections in India are unsafe and the situation has not changed today. There are countries like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia which have machines to manufacture AD syringes and are actively promoting it too. The first step in avoiding the use of used and unsafe injections for India could be to ban the imports of syringes. It would indeed help India if AD syringes could save atleast 3 lakh lives here," Koska added.
