Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices Ltd has launched India's first auto-disable (auto-disposable) syringes in the state. The syringes cannot be reused and any attempt to do so would break it. The syringe, Kojak Selinge, developed in collaboration with Star Syringe of the United Kingdom, is priced at Rs 5.25 a piece for a 2 millilitre (ml) capacity syringe. The syringes are available in 0.5 ml, 2 ml, 5 ml and 10 ml capacities.

Launching the new syringe, Pradeep Sarin, General Manager of (HMD), said the syringe was so designed that any attempt to reuse it would lead to breaking of the plunger. As a counter to the common and illegal practice of reusing disposable syringes by doctors and para-medical personnel, WHO has directed that health providers shift to using auto-disable syringes by December 2003. According to a WHO survey, 30% of syringes used for immunization are the disposable variety.

HMD, which produces the well-known brand of Dispovan syringes, would be investing Rs 100 crore to upgrade its manufacturing facilities for a compulsory shift in the market to auto-disable syringes.

In India, more than 21 million people get infected with dreaded viruses and fatal diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis-B thanks to the unsafe injection practices. Of these, 4.75 lakh people die every year.

Welcoming the introduction of the non-reusable syringes, RS Rama Devi, Director of Medical Education, AP, said the government had already made the use of auto-disable syringes compulsory in all immunization drives in the state.

Raj Kumar, the programme manager, Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health, said that two out of three injections administered on patients were unnecessary and this practice of over-injection was partly due to the misconception among the people that their treatment was incomplete without injections. There was a need to educate the people against this misconception and create an awareness about the disastrous implications of reusing the syringes, he said.