NEWS: Injections cause 30,000 HIV/Aids infections annually

Injections cause 30,000 HIV/Aids infections annually

Thursday, May 8, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE

Kampala Health experts are urging cautious use of injections after recent studies show at least 30,000 of the new HIV/Aids infections are a result of re-using needles and syringes.
Unless in extreme cases, medical experts say patients should try as much as possible to rely on tablets to cure their ailments.

“If you use the standard syringes, you are talking of at least 30,000 new infections from injections for HIV/Aids and yet if you use syringes that are easily disabled, you can cut those infections to about 250 annually,’’ said Dr Jacinto Amandua, the Commissioner for Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health.

Speaking at a meting on injection safety in Kampala on wednesday, besides HIV/Aids, Dr Amandua said majority of cases of Hepatitis B have been caused through use of injections.
“The number of infections of Hepatitis B through use of syringes is even higher than that of HIV/Aids and this is very dangerous yet its going on silently,’’Dr Amandua said.Dr Amandua attributed the high number of disabled persons to the use of unsafe injections. “If you go to Mulago there are a lot of people whose nerves have been damaged because of being injected with unsafe syringes. In fact if you find people on the streets who are paralysed and ask them, they will tell you they got paralysed after being injected,’’ Dr Amandua said.

Last year, the government introduced syringes known as the auto disabling needles which will destroy themselves immediately after an injection has been administered in a bid to curb the infections.

Making a presentation on earlier studies conducted in Uganda on injection safety, Dr Jackson Amone, the assistant commissioner for clinical services said that the frequency of injection use was found to be high, with most of them considered to be unsafe.

“The risk of medical transmission of blood borne pathogens was estimated to be high and insufficient supply of needles and syringes, unhygienic working environment and injections being administered by unqualified people contributed to this un safety,’’ Dr Amone said.