Progressive Chandra Babu Naidu declares the State of Andhra Pradesh as safety injection use state
Dr (Col) HS Ratti, an epidemiologist and Project Advisor to Safe Point has applauded the Andhra Pradesh Government for becoming the First Indian State to launch Auto-Disable Syringes for all clinical purposes and to declare the State of Andhra Pradesh as ‘Safety Injection Use State’.
Dr HS Ratti said “I congratulate AP Govt. for implementing this important initiative. We are honoured and excited to partner with IAPG (Indian Alliance of Patient Groups) and Gov. of Andhra Pradesh to offer training programmes to the healthcare workers of AP on correct and best injection practices to avoid preventable infections.”
Andhra Govt in May 2018 passed an order to use Auto-Disable Syringes for all clinical purposes and to declare the State of Andhra Pradesh as ‘Safety Injection Use State’ and as promised, Health Medical & Family Welfare Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh recently launched ‘AD Syringes for Patient Safety’ at a conference at AP Secretariat, Amaravati. As a part of the programme a panel discussions on patient safety was also organised.
The objective of the panel discussions was to bring together policy makers, experts, patient’s networks, NGO’s & civil societyto provide an opportunity to review the underlying systematic issues affecting patient safety, share experiences in addressing barriers and creating solution to strengthen systems and improve practices. India consumes over four billion syringes per year of which an INCLEN study done had found nearly 60 per cent as unsafe and 1/3 being reused. Addressing the unsafe injection practices is an important public health agenda, especially in low and middle income countries.
Dr Jitendar Sharma, Advisor for Health & Medical Technology, Govt of AP & MD and CEO of AMTZ said, “With advancement in medical technology the patient safety profile have also changed. While modern technology brings advanced safety it also brings new complexity. Govt of AP endeavours to find technological solutions to progressively and positively impact the safety of patients and care providers”
Poonam Malakondaiah, Special Chief Secretary, Health, Govt of AP said “Govt. of AP has launched numerous interventions like RFID for eliminating errors due to patient identification, Auto-Disable Syringes to reduce infections and many other technological interventions. Govt of AP remains committed to work with stakeholders to set new quality benchmarks in healthcare”
The biggest Global Campaign for use of safe injection practice came early in 2015 when WHO Director General Margaret Chen flagged off the biggest Global initiative since Polio Eradication and Hand Wash Campaign called ‘Global health initiative on injection safety’ and chose India, Egypt and Uganda as the focus countries to spearhead the Campaign. Many countries including USA, EU, Canada and Japan have already adopted Safety Engineered Syringes (SES) said Dr HS Ratti, Advisor to Safe Point and an Army trained epidemiologist.
“The poor hygiene in hospitals acts as amplifier for disease as a patient gets admitted for a specific treatment but ends up getting treated for a hospital acquired infection. The reuse of medical syringes continues to be a matter of serious concern as it poses grave health risks both to the patient as well as to medical professionals in light of growing AMR (Anti Microbial Resistance) and also acts as a barrier to the government’s resolve of eliminating these diseases by 2030, “said Dr Ratna Devi, Founding member, Indian Alliance of Patient Groups (IAPG).
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