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Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday announced that by the end of April all state health departments will have to compulsorily switch over to auto-disabled (AD) syringes.
Ramadoss announced this in the backdrop of reports that the outbreak of Hepatitis B in Modasa was possibly due to the use of contaminated syringes.
“All the central hospitals are using AD syringes. Many state hospitals and sub-centres are, however, not using them, as in the case of Modasa in Gujarat, where the Hepatitis B infection has killed several people,” said Dr Ramadoss.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Asian Heart Institute’s helpline for people suffering from heart problems.
Scientists from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), besides a team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are working on the problem, he said.
“The scientists and doctors are monitoring the situation and working to find out the real source (root cause) of the spread of the disease in the area. But it could be due to the re-use of syringes, as all the patients who have died were administered injections in the last two to six months,” said Dr Ramadoss, adding that in the next two years, all private hospitals will use AD syringes as well.
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