ADs ONLY PLEASE (PART 2): INDIA & NIGERIA MOVE DECISIVELY TOWARDS EXCLUSIVE AD POLICY

STAR NEWS

Some months have passed since our last newsletter which addressed Uganda’s affirmation of it’s AD only syringe policy. In the autumn of this year Nigeria also committed to such a policy and earlier this month India confirmed that it too will make the use of safe, auto-disable syringes compulsory with effect 1st April 2009.

In a public notice released on the 8th October 2008 the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Nigeria announced “that the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale and use of only auto disable syringes will be allowed in Nigeria with effect from 1st April, 2009.”  The notice went on to say that “in order to protect safety of patients and embrace new technology obtainable in developed countries, the Agency hereby advises healthcare providers and the general public to reject the use of plastic disposable syringes …” furthermore “anybody found in possession of the banned conventional syringes” after 1st April 2009 “will be arrested, have the products seized, evacuated for destruction and subjected to prosecution.”

Barely two months later and India has taken the same giant step forward.  After many years of relentless campaigning by Marc Koska , culminating in an intense 10 day national media onslaught to raise awareness of the often fatal problem of unsafe injections, Marc, representing the Safepoint Trust, was able to secure a meeting with the Minister of Health Dr. Ambumani Ramadoss, Dr. R.K. Srivastava, Director General of Health Services and Mrs A. Johari, Joint Secretary.  These discussions led directly to the decision to outlaw the use of all but auto disable syringes initially in Central Government Hospitals with regional State controlled facilities to follow and private hospitals further down the line in a second phase.

Just as in Nigeria the first deadline set is the 1st April 2009 by which time all Central Government Health Service hospitals in India must have switched completely to auto disable syringes.

Following these two announcements and taking into account Uganda and other nations that support the use of AD syringes but have not yet backed this up with legislation, approximately a quarter of the world’s population will be assured of safe injections throughout their lives. Others are now considering this step and there is a significant groundswell of support across Africa and more progress is expected in 2009. Marc has always believed that a “safe injection is a fundamental human right” and these recent events have taken the world closer to the fulfilment of that ambition.

Star licensees in India (HMD) and Nigeria (PAHF and First Medical) are well positioned to support these hugely significant developments. Our congratulations go to Marc and all those that have worked towards this point and to those who have taken the decisions that will make the world a safer and better place.

John Dyball: MD Star Syringe

INDIA & NIGERIA PASS LEGISLATION ASSURING SAFE INJECTIONS THAT IN TURN WILL DRAMATICALLY REDUCE THEIR MEDICAL EXPENDITURE