Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices (HMD), manufacturer of SMART (auto disable) syringes, has launched the next generation Cathy Safety IV Cannula with SIP CLIP, for preventing needle stick injuries. According to WHO, if safety cannula are made mandatory in hospitals, then around 80 per cent of all hospital staff can be saved from needle stick injuries. HMD invested over Rs 100 crores in setting up of a new manufacturing facility at Ballabhgarh, to manufacture the next generation ‘Safety IV Cannula with SIP CLIP’.
The new plant is spread on an area of 5.5 acres and will have the capacity to initially produce 36 million units of ‘Safety IVCannula’ to meet the rising export demand to Europe which is expected to be around over 50 per cent and balance for domestic demand for its new revolutionary technology, designed to prevent needle-stick injuries which is very common among health workers and nursing staff.
According to Rajiv Nath, Joint MD of Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices (HMD), “We are particularly excited about the prospects of our latest offering ‘Safety IV Cannula with this Sharps Injury Prevention SIP Clip’, which will certainly boost our export profile. We soon will be exporting this product to more than 20 countries by 2017. We have already shipped over 1.5 million I.V Cannulas to Scandinavia recently and have received excellent feedback and clinical acceptance.
For one, this patented design greatly minimises the chances of needle stick injury to a nurse after she attaches a IV Catheter and removed the blood infected needle from a patient which results in numerous unfortunate infections and even deaths, particularly in developing countries like India. Most of these accidents are not reported. This product will greatly enhance health safety of our hospital staff and health workers and they deserve this protection. Our next generation cannula is designed to help bring down substantially the overall cost resulting from treatment of diseases like Hepatitis and HIV due to needle stick injuries and resultant nosocomial infections but also address the stigma against treatment of HIV patients,” added Nath.
He expressed hope and optimism that government will make use of indigenous ready availability of ‘Safety Cannula’ and make it mandatory for treatment of people especially those affected with serious blood borne infections like Hepatitis and HIV.
Some of the innovative features of Cathy+Safety IV Cannula with SIP CLIP include:
- Automatic passive safety
- SIP – Sharps Injury Prevention
- Injection molded in one piece – cost advantage
- The first needle protection device in a pure polymer, which is integrated inside the catheter adapter
- Safe, simple and customer – friendly
- Ease of insertion without peel back
- Minimal trauma
- Ultra sharp, ultra polished needles
- Electro polished and back-cut point
It may be pointed that needle-stick injuries are common among healthcare staff and workers. Nurses are the largest single victim group, and have high rates of injury. According to WHO, 80 per cent of all hospital staff have personally experienced needle stick injuries. There are two million reported needle stick injuries per EU and US, plus more than 1 million unreported injuries. Out of 35 million heathcare workers nearly 10 per cent receive percutaneous exposure to blood borne pathogens like Hepatitis and HIV annually and 90 per cent of these accidents occur in developing countries. Needle stick injuries also result in high financial and human costs and cause considerable distress to nurses and doctors.
To mitigate the risks, within EU, safety devices are mandatory as of May 11, 2013 (EU Council Directive 2010/32 of May 10, 2010) and US passed the Needle Stick Safety and Prevention Act (NSPA) in 2000. India is yet to bring in policy or legislation on this.