ADs ONLY PLEASE: UGANDA BAN ON STANDARD SYRINGES COMES INTO FORCE

STAR NEWS

A year after the ground-breaking announcement by Sam Zaramba, director general of health services at the Ministry of Health, Uganda has put into action the policy to use only auto disable (AD) and re-use prevention syringes in the country. Today marks the changeover, when normal disposable syringes are finally phased out. Part of Uganda's comprehensive effort to address the causes of HIV, this means that from today only safe, non reusable syringes will be used in districts throughout the country. 

Recognising that prevention of HIV and other diseases is a better approach than treating an infection once it has occurred, and that sex is not the only significant route of transmission, has placed Uganda at the forefront of the international health policy stage. "This is an example to the rest of the world" exclaimed Marc Koska OBE, president of Star Syringe. "Uganda has followed sound policy with concrete action. We applaud the political leadership and dedication to this cause under the stewardship of the Hon. Minister for Primary Health Dr Emmanuel Otaala, and the implementation through his formidable Injection Safety Taskforce. We hope many other countries in the region will follow Uganda's example and take a comprehensive, active approach to injection safety. The Injection Safety Taskforce has been skillfuly steered by Clinical Director Dr Amandua Jacinto and Dr Victoria Masembe from the MMIS (Making Medical Injections Safer) programme sponsored by PEPFAR. We congratulate both, and all their teams and associates, for the great achievement they mark today."

Commenting on the quality of the syringes now available on the market, Marc added, "we are delighted that the K1 syringe is on the national procurement shortlist. It is the only device that meets the demanding ISO 7886-4 Type 1 specification and is WHO approved. K1 is an automatically disabling syringe available in all sizes, so we believe it is the safest and most practical syringe around - as well as being excellent value. We are proud to have our world-leading product available and in use here for many years."

The last twelve months of planning in the Ministry have seen a dedicated and intense programme to support the comprehensive changeover. This has included investment in healthcare worker training across all districts, and a TV, radio and newspaper campaign to heighten public awareness on injection safety. SafePoint, the safe injection charity, has been engaged to assist in delivering an impartial public information message, creating media resources like a 3-minute film that demonstrates the risk simply, and gives practical steps people can adopt to eliminate this risk.

Taking the policy from idea to practice has been a great example of partnership, notably private/public co-operation. K1 licensee Hindustan Medical Devices (HMD), based in India, and local partner Tata, have worked closely with the Injection Safety Taskforce in the months of preparation. Tata Uganda has donated K1 auto disable single use syringes worth 13 million Uganda Shillings to support the health ministry in its policy of ensuring that the risk of cross infection is reduced. Both have supported public presentations to illustrate the importance of having a safe injection, and helped promote the government's move in all sorts of mass media, from local radio spots to newspaper editorials. Handing over the consignment at Tata headquarters recently, the managing director Shalendra Kundra said researchers have shown that over 5% of the new HIV/AIDS infections are caused by reusable syringe injections. "One child dies every 24 seconds as a result of an unsafe injection worldwide" concludes Marc. "Uganda has taken an impressive step in stopping this unnecessary loss of life forever".