Safe syringe celebrates ‘Billennium’
The billionth syringe has come off the production line, signalling the remarkable success of a revolutionary product which, at first, no-one would buy. The Star ‘K-1 autodisable syringe’, which includes a mechanism that prevents its re-use, has been estimated to have saved over five million lives, many of them in the developing world.
Marc Kosa founded his company Star Syringe in 1996, but he conceived the idea for a non reusable syringe in the mid 80s. It took him more than a decade of hard slog to convince sceptical manufacturers and health bodies that he had a viable product. “It’s been a long road to success, but I never thought about giving up”, he said. “It all started in 1984 when I read an article about the transmission of HIV via reused needles and syringes.” He did his homework – studying how addicts used syringes, visiting syringe factories and researching plastic moulding techniques. Other auto-disable (AD) designs existed, but were too expensive and difficult to make. “My design addressed these problems,” said Kosa, “but when I first approached big potential producers I got shown the door pretty quickly.” Nevertheless, he persevered, and the K1 syringe is now being made under licence by manufacturers all over the world, especially in developing countries.
An estimated 50 billion injections are given annually worldwide. In the developing world, more than half of these are made with unsterile syringes, often with supposedly ‘disposable’ models which are used many times. This cross-infects patients with serious blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis. The World Health Organisation estimates that syringes are used on average seven times in developing countries, creating tens of millions of preventable infections every year. One child dies every 24 seconds from unsafe injections. The Star K1 has small ring etched on the inside of the barrel, which allows the specially-adapted plunger to move in one direction and not the other. After one complete injection is given the plunger will automatically lock in place, and break if forced, rendering the syringe useless.
Marc Koska is also the founder of SafePoint, a charitable trust dedicated to educating children and healthcare workers in the developing world about how they can protect themselves when receiving and giving injections. The charity’s principal objective is to outlaw the reuse of needles and promote awareness of its dangers. “I don’t care whether people are using my AD design or a competitor’s” said Kosa, “SafePoint is all about spreading the word to endusers and health policy makers about how to use syringes safely.”
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