WHO to Start New Global Health Initiative For Needle Safety

Friday, September 12, 2014

At the TEDMED conference in Washington, DC, Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), revealed that the organization will announce its third-ever global health initiative and policy in October. The initiative this time is around needle safety.

The announcement came during a TEDMED presentation by British inventor Marc Koska, who spent his early 20s creating the K-1 syringe: the first syringe to automatically disable once it’s used, making it impossible to use again. A small ring inside of the barrel of the syringe allows the plunger to move in one direction and not the other, so after an injection, the plunger is locked in place and will break if forced.

The hope is that the WHO mandate, which will encourage the use of non-reusable syringes, will become a worldwide health safety standard.

Source: TIME (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care