In an effort to improve injection safety across the globe, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday began an expert meeting to explore strategies aimed at promoting the use of safer needles.

The three-day meeting, taking place at WHO headquarters on Oct.23-25, will examine how to encourage countries and procurement agencies to purchase the safest needles, how to encourage manufacturers to lower the price of such products, and how to boost countries' local manufacturing capacity, a WHO statement said.

WHO estimates that every year, 6 billion injections are given globally with syringes or needles that are reused without sterilization. This represents 40 percent of all injections given in developing countries.

Since 1999, WHO has advised its member states to use needles with safety features. However, many developing countries can not afford these new technologies.

"The new technologies should be available to developing countries, where injections are used more and where the risk of infection transmission is greater," said Dr. Howard Zucker, WHO assistant director-general for health technology and pharmaceuticals.

According to WHO figures, unsafe injections and needle stick injuries suffered by health-care workers together cause 33 percent of new Hepatitis B infections and 2 million new cases of Hepatitis C in the world each year.

In addition, unsafe injections in health-care settings account for an estimated 5 percent of new HIV cases worldwide.

The use of syringes with features that prevent reuse and needle stick injuries would avert about 1.3 million global deaths per year by preventing infections and the epidemics caused by their spread, WHO estimates.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2007)