Call for action
Safe and appropriate use of injections are within our grasp
Unsafe injection practices are often viewed as a chronic problem with no easy solutions. However, safe and appropriate use of injections can be achieved by adopting a three part strategy:
Auto-disable syringes
Auto-disable (AD) syringes are a special type of syringe that inactivate themselves after one single use. This device, increasingly used in immunization services, is an effective tool to prevent re-use and will become the norm in immunization by 2003.
Call for Action
Ministries of health can develop national policy and plans for safe and appropriate use of injections, with appropriate budgeting and financing.
- HIV/AIDS prevention programmes can include awareness regarding the risks of unsafe injections within all education and behaviour change activities.
- Essential drug programmes can make sterile syringes and sharps boxes available in every health care facility and address injection overuse within the national drug policy.
- Donors and lenders can ensure that all supplies of injectables, including vaccines and contraceptives, are delivered with matching quantities of auto-disable (AD) syringes and sharps boxes.
- Health systems can ensure sharps waste management as part of their duty of care.
