INDUSTRY REVIEW
The Needlestick Problem
A needlestick injury occurs when a person is accidentally
injured with a used needle. Such injuries occur frequently
in the HealthCare industry and can lead to people contracting
diseases such as HIV-AIDS, hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis.
The most common type of incident where disease is transmitted
is cross-infection from a patient to a HealthCare worker.
The cost of treatment and compensation payments to victims
and their families is of major concern to the medical
profession and their insurers.
Statistics currently show that approximately one million
needlestick injuries are reported in the United States
each year. It is also estimated that 66 percent of all
needlestick injuries are not reported and that 20 different
bloodborne diseases can be spread through accidental
pricks. According to these statistics, over A$5 billion
a year is currently being spent on the treatment of
accidental needlesticks in the United States, and 89
percent of HealthCare workers who contracted HIV-AIDS
or hepatitis B in the course of their work did so as
a result of a needlestick injury.*
It can be assumed that hospitals and HealthCare centres
all over the world experience a similar problem with
needlestick injuries in proportion to the number of
patients being treated.
The potential for litigation related to the continued
use of unsafe injection devices is alarming.
Industry Response
The response of health departments, health industry
managers and insurers to the dangers faced by HealthCare
workers has been generally "take more care".
HealthCare workers are obliged to follow the rigid procedures
of universal precautions in an attempt to prevent injury.
Special sharps containers are placed close to all points
where injection needles are used, and great care is
needed to get the used needle into the sharps box before
an injury occurs. This can inhibit efficient clinical
practice under the demanding pressures of a HealthCare
setting, especially a medical emergency.
In no other dangerous occupation has this approach
been tolerated. In the building industry, helmets, steel-capped
boots, earthed electrical equipment and many other safety
devices are compulsory. Motorists are asked to wear
seatbelts and even cyclists are required to wear helmets.
The message is that safety depends on the provision
of safe equipment
A Better Response
The medical profession generally follows the credo
that prevention is better than cure. A preventive approach
to the problem of needlestick injuries is now possible
through the use of affordable, safer medical devices.
In the United States, a number of States have introduced
legislation to make safer syringes mandatory in hospitals
and it is anticipated that other countries will follow.
The nursing profession in the United States is actively
lobbying for safer syringes, and it is only a matter
of time before their colleagues in other parts of the
world can be expected to do the same.
Hospitals around the world are now investigating the
use of safer medical devices.
The Market for Safer
Devices
A needlestick injury occurs when a person is accidentally
injured with a used needle. Such injuries occur frequently
in the HealthCare industry and can lead to people contracting
diseases such as HIV-AIDS, hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis.
The most common type of incident where disease is transmitted
is cross-infection from a patient to a HealthCare worker.
The cost of treatment and compensation payments to victims
and their families is of major concern to the medical
profession and their insurers.
Statistics currently show that approximately one million
needlestick injuries are reported in the United States
each year. It is also estimated that 66 percent of all
needlestick injuries are not reported and that 20 different
bloodborne diseases can be spread through accidental
pricks. According to these statistics, over A$5 billion
a year is currently being spent on the treatment of
accidental needlesticks in the United States, and 89
percent of HealthCare workers who contracted HIV-AIDS
or hepatitis B in the course of their work did so as
a result of a needlestick injury.*
It can be assumed that hospitals and HealthCare centres
all over the world experience a similar problem with
needlestick injuries in proportion to the number of
patients being treated.
The potential for litigation related to the continued
use of unsafe injection devices is alarming.
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