Excerpt

This guideline provides global, evidence-based recommendations on the use of safety-engineered injection devices to prevent the reuse of syringes and/or prevent needle-stick injuries in health-care workers. The ultimate aim is to make injection practices safer for patients and health-care workers and to prevent the injection-related transmission of deadly viruses, particularly HIV, Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B.

The procedures covered are intramuscular (IM), intradermal (ID) and subcutaneous (SC) injections including the syringes needed for the reconstitution of medication or vaccines when required. Other procedures e.g. intravenous injections and infusions, blood collection for laboratory testing, and capillary blood sampling will be covered by another guideline to be issued separately by WHO.

The policy recommendation aims to support Member States (MS) and development partners in making informed decisions on the appropriateness of introducing safety-engineered syringes for all injections in health-care settings.

Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations and acronyms
• Executive summary
• Scope and purpose
• Target audience
• Background
• Methodology
  • 1 Guideline questions
  • 2 Systematic review
  • 3 GRADE approach
• Guideline development process
  • 1 The Guideline Steering Committee
  • 2 Guideline Development Group
  • 3 External Experts for final peer-review
• Management of conflicts of interest
• Recommendations
• Implications for future research
  • 1 Research needed for both types of devices RUPs and SIPs
  • 2 Research specific to syringes with a sharps injury protection (SIP) mechanism
• Considerations for the development of future guidelines
• Dissemination, adaptation and implementation
  • 1 Dissemination
  • 2 Adaptation and implementation
  • 3 Monitoring and evaluation of guideline implementation
• Plans for updating this guideline
• References
• Appendix 1 WHO global burden of disease sub-regions
• Appendix 2 Systematic reviews and evidence summaries report
• Appendix 3 Systematic reviews on “Attitudes, values, preferences and feasibility”
• Appendix 4 Grade glossary
• Appendix 5 Decision making tables
• Appendix 6 Brochure containing the key policy recommendations for dissemination