Unsafe injections common around world
Forty per cent of all the health injections given globally in 2000 were performed with reused needles, according to a World Health Organization study. In some countries, three out of four injections were unsafe.
The researchers say that reusing needles contributes to the spread of numerous blood borne infections, including hepatitis B and C, HIV, malaria, septicaemia and viral haemorrhagic fevers.
The study should bolster efforts in the US Senate to push through a bill that requires a minimum $75 million of the AIDS funding for Africa to be used on injection and blood safety.
"It's so easy to fix and so inexpensive to do," says the WHO's Yvan Hutin, who led the study. He believes that providing developing countries with safe injection kits, such as needles that cannot be reused, should be a priority.
