WAM DUBAI: The Ministry of Health on Saturday celebrated the implementation of the UAE's initiative to support safe usage of syringes in developing countries.

The celebration was held at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai in presence of the ministry's senior officialsUnder the patronage of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, Chairperson of Dubai International Humanitarian City and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

Assistant Undersecretary for Medical Practices and Licensing at the Ministry of Health Dr. Amin Al-Amiri, in remarks at the event, stressed that it is the responsibility of all health care workers, their employers, the public, and national governments to ensure safe and appropriate use of injections, the prevention of bloodborne pathogen transmission and other adverse events associated with injections will require improved collaboration between organizations and individuals sharing a common interest in attaining this goal.

He added that statistics of the world health organization reveal that about 16 billion injections are used annually in the developing countries while 70% of these injections are given with reused syringes and needles in the developing countries.

Accroding to Al-Amiri, statistics by the world health organization also indicate that unsafe injection practices lead to 21 million hepatitis B disease (30% of new cases) while 20 million people become infected with hepatitis C (41% of new cases). There are also about 260 thousand HIV/AIDS infections (5% of new cases) whereas 70% of injections are unnecessary in some regions.

In 1999, the "Safe Injection Global Network-SIGN" was established as a voluntary coalition of stakeholders to achieve safe and appropriate use of injections throughout the world.

"The Ministry of Health hosted the 11th SIGN Meeting for the period 19-21st November 2010 with participants from 120 countries in the world under the patronage of the wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, Chairperson of Dubai International Humanitarian City, as a leading initiative to eliminate the dangers of using unsafe syringes," he said in an emailed press release.

-- MORE -- WAM/MMYS