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'Safe needles' campaign under way
Posted
5-22-2000 Washington. Nurses and other healthcare workers sustain between 600,000 and 1 million needlestick injuries each year. This results in 1,000 new cases of HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B infections. To help eliminate this threat to healthcare workers, the American Nurses Association and the University of Vermont have sponsored a "Safe Needles Campaign." The technology exists to protect healthcare workers from needlesticks, the ANA said, yet fewer than 15 percent of U.S. hospitals use safer devices, such as retractable needles. The cost of the safer devices is about 28 cents more per needle. The cost for follow-up after high-risk exposure is about $3,000 per needlestick injury, while drugs to combat hepatitis C, the most frequent infection resulting from needlestick injuries, average $1,700 per month. Anti-AIDS drug treatment can cost up to $6,000 per month. Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a compliance directive for its blood-borne pathogen standard requiring hospitals to use safer needle devices. In addition, the ANA reports that five states—California, Maryland, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas—have passed needlestick prevention legislation. Hospital and healthcare employers in California are expected to save more than $100 million per year after implementing the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirement for safe needle devices. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that healthcare providers should begin taking anti-viral medications within a few hours following the needlestick injury and should file a report with their supervisor.
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