Sunday, 20 October 2002
  0 Replies
  2.1K Visits
POST 00512E : CONTAMINATION STUDY OF NEEDLE REMOVERS Follow-up on Post 00509E and 00510E 20 October 2002 __________________________________________________________ Anthony Battersby (mailto:[log in to unmask]) comments on Mary Catlin's contribution (Post 00510E) and Janet Vail (mailto:[log in to unmask]) responds to some of her concerns. ___________________________________________________ Mary Catlin has made an eloquent and comprehensive critique of the case for needle removing. Ever since the idea of defanging was first presented at the waste disposal meeting in Almaty in 1999, some of us have been strongly against the idea. Now a professional nurse has given clear reasons why needle removing is a bad idea. Please now let us forget about needle removing and needle destruction and concentrate on reduction of injections and safe disposal/destruction of syringes and needles. There is another point that I would like to add to Mary's list. Why make two pieces of waste out of one? For years we had beer cans with removable tabs (two pieces of waste), now tabs are non-removable. As soon as the needle is taken off the syringe there are two pieces of hazardous waste to be taken care of. In the case of needle cutters the number of pieces of waste is a great deal more. I do not understand the ethics of pursuing the development of a technology for poor countries which has been made illegal in rich ones. Anthony __________________________________________________ Thank you, Mary, for your comments. This is reminiscent of the discussion that occurred over SIGNpost almost 2 years ago. Since then, needle removal technology options have expanded; we have positive feedback from users and policy makers in countries that this concept would be helpful to reduce AD waste volumes (for example, India, Pakistan, Mozambique, Senegal, Ivory Coast); and GAVI has identified "defanging" as a priority for research and development. The objective is to reduce waste volume, ease disposal, and reduce sharps in the waste stream. It is critical that such a device be used at point of use, and as part of an overall waste disposal system: for example, contained used needles would be disposed of in a protected pit, and used syringes would be transported to some place for final destruction. We'll be addressing advantages and disadvantages of the concept at the SIGN meeting, and look forward to consolidating data to address concerns. Janet Vail PATH ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTRIBUTIONS: Contributions to: or use your reply button! The TechNet21 e-Forum welcomes new subscribers who are involved in immunization services. SUBCRIBE: To subscribe, send an e-mail to: Leave the SUBJECT area BLANK, do not type anything. In the body text, just write: Subscribe TECHNET21E Surname Name Do not use any accents in your name and surname. UNSUBSCRIBE: To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to: Leave the SUBJECT area BLANK, do not type anything. In the body text, just write: Unsubscribe TECHNET21E ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ARCHIVES Archives of posted messages classified by month starting with 1 January 2000 are accessible to all TechNet21 subscribers at the following site : http://listes.ulaval.ca/listserv/archives/technet21e.html Archives for postings prior to January 2000 can be found at the following site : http://www.who.int/vaccines-access/Vaccines/Vaccine_Cold_Chain/Technet Or by request to the Moderator at mailto:[log in to unmask] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Archives for files (documents) are under revision to clean old documents and drafts that are already replaced with new ones, and will be made available soon at a specific site. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The World Health Organization and UNICEF support TechNet21. The TechNet21 e-Forum is a communication/information tool for generation of ideas on how to improve immunization services. It is moderated by Claude Letarte and is hosted in cooperation with the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement, Québec, Canada (http://www.ccisd.org) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are no replies made for this post yet.