Auto disabled: a good thing about govt hospitals

Marc Koska, the inventor of auto disabled syringes and CEO of Safe Point Trust is leading a campaign to make the public and the government agencies across the globe aware of the importance of using auto disabled (AD) syringes. During his maiden visit to Bangalore, he congratulated the Karnataka government for implementing 100% usage of AD in all its government hospitals and clinics. Koska spoke to DNA , on how re-using old syringes can prove to be life-threatening.

What is an AD syringe and why is it important to use this?
AD syringes are like normal syringes that become dysfunctional after a single use, ensuring that they cannot be reused on another patient. It is not absolutely mandatory to use AD syringes. Even the normal disposable syringes can be used and then dismantled or broken so that it cannot be reused. Such syringes need to be recycled or burnt in the proper way. While this can be done in private hospitals and clinics, in case of government hospitals it is better to use AD syringes, since the hospitals are always crowded and the doctors are not always left with sufficient time for breaking the used syringes.

Where does India stand in terms of using AD syringes, thus ensuring safety for the patients?
According to a three-year-long study done by Inclen, a global researcher in healthcare, of the five billion medical injections administered in India every year, around 62% are unsafe. While worldwide, around 1.3 million people die each year because of being administered unsafe injections, according to WHO reports, India alone witnesses three lakh deaths every year. On April 30 this year, Dr Ambumani Ramadoss had brought about a mandate that public hospitals use only AD syringes. In keeping with the mandate and complying with ISO standards, it is now compulsory for all central government hospitals across the country to use only AD syringes for all medical purposes and not merely for immunisation programmes. Slowly, the situation is improving in India.

How is the situation in the state?
For the last three years, Karnataka is leading globally in terms of implementing safe health care by ensuring the use of AD syringes in all government hospitals and clinics. Karnataka alone is using around 75 million AD syringes in a year. And now it’s time to take it to the private sector as well. Kerala is the first state in India to introduce usage of AD syringes. Others like Gujarat, West Bengal, Orissa, Maharastra and parts of Bihar have also started using them now.

What is your future plan?
I am going to urge the United Nations to adopt a resolution so that everyone can have access to safe healthcare. This is my mission for year 2010.