E-drug: Safe Injection Practice announcement
---------------------------------------------
Dear Colleagues,
The Safe Injection Global Network - SIGN - is initiating a moderated
discussion listserve to assist in achieving safe medical injections.
The WHO has identified an unacceptably high proportion of medical
injections as unsafe:
NEW AWARENESS DUE TO BETTER DOCUMENTATION*
12 billion injections annually
95% for curative purposes
50% unsafe in 14/17 LDC's
18 studies: unsafe inj => transmit BBP
20-80% of new Hepatitis-B virus infections
Major mode of Hepatitis-C virus transmission
[* Simonsen L et al. Bull WHO 1999 (in press)]
UNSAFE INJECTIONS: ESTIMATED ANNUAL CONSEQUENCES*
8-16 million HBV
2-4.5 million HCV
75,000-100,000 HIV
? millions of injection site abscesses
[* Kane A. et al. Bull WHO (in press)]
SAFE INJECTION GLOBAL NETWORK: SIGN
New global initiative
Goal: eliminate unsafe injections
Recognizing:
The magnitude of problem
That there is no "magic bullets"
That there is the need for culture-specific solutions
The SIGNPOST list will be delivered to your mailbox approximately once a week.
To contribute material, comment, or provide resource files for
distribution send an email message to: sign@acithn.uq.edu.au
If you wish to join the SIGN list click your reply button and I'll
subscribe you.
Or send an email to: sign@acithn.uq.edu.au
* If you already subscribe to the TECHNET Forum you need not
subscribe to SIGN at this stage: Injection safety postings will be
cross posted to the TECHNET forum.
* Please forward this invitation to anyone whom you feel might be
interested in joining the discussion.
Best wishes for a safer and better future,
Allan Bass
SIGN Moderator
[Physical address: University of Queensland, Australia, manually added BS]
Allan Bass <A.Bass@mailbox.uq.edu.au>