We have smartphones, smart cars and smart TVs, but what about smart syringes?
The World Health Organization started a new initiative Monday aimed at making single-use smart syringes commonplace in all international hospitals in five years as a way to curb unsafe injections.
There are 16 billion injections administered each year, with 40 percent of them from reused syringes, the World Health Organization said. A 2014 organization study estimated that in 2010 up to 315,000 hepatitis C patients and as many as 33,800 HIV patients contracted their diseases through unsafe injections.
The U.S. has regulations to prevent reusing syringes but there isn’t full compliance, World Health Organization officials said.
The most prevalent reuse of syringes is for flu shots at local healthcare clinics or pharmacies and at facilities drawing blood for testing, Lisa Hedman, technical officer at the organization’s Department of Essential Medicines and Health Products, told the Washington Examiner. Hedman could not provide exact statistics on the reuse of syringes in the U.S.
Several outbreaks of hepatitis C have been linked to unsafe injections. One such 2007 outbreak in Nevada was linked to a doctor using the same syringe to withdraw additional doses of anesthetic from a vial contaminated with hepatitis C, the World Health Organization said. More than 100 people were infected.
In some cases the healthcare worker is throwing the needle away but continuing to reuse the barrel of the syringe where the medication is stored. The problem is that barrel is contaminated “once it had contact with the patient,” Hedman said. “The most common misperception is that you can reuse the barrel.”
A smart syringe would prevent reuse by making the syringe defective after one use. There are different models, but one resembles a ballpoint pen that would suck the needle into the syringe barrel.
The difference in price varies based on the type of syringe. A typical disposable syringe costs about 3 to 4 cents and some of the cheaper smart syringes only cost about a half a cent more.
Pricier models such as those that suck the needle into the syringe would cost about 10 cents more than the disposable syringes, Hedman said.
While Hedman acknowledged the syringes are slightly more expensive, healthcare systems would save money by preventing chronic disease such as hepatitis C that are expensive to treat. The adoption of smart syringes also would help to prevent needle injuries among healthcare workers, she added.
Hedman said the U.S. has committed to adopting more smart syringes. The World Health Organization is trying to get the same commitment from developing and third-world nations. The organization also released guidance Monday to help healthcare workers use safe syringes properly.
