WHO best practices for injections and related procedures toolkit
A safe injection is one that does not harm the recipient, does not expose the provider to any avoidable risks and does not result in waste that is dangerous for the community. Unsafe injection practices can lead to transmission of bloodborne pathogens, with their associated burden of disease.
To ensure rational and safe use of injections globally, better injection safety practices are needed. The responsibility for ensuring injection safety rests with national governments, prescribers, administrators, receivers of injections and the wider community. The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges this responsibility of its member states and the challenges they face. Through the WHO Injection Safety programme and the Safe Injection Global Network (SIGN – whose secretariat is hosted by WHO), the organization demonstrates its commitment to preventing injection-related disease transmission for patients, health workers and the community at large, through the rational and safe use of injections. WHO and SIGN recognize the importance of infection prevention and control in injection safety...