Question

1.Public Healths role/influence /contribution to the use of Sharps Waste containers for biohazrds to promote heath

2.Public healths role and influence for the development of needle bank programs in USA

Answer 1

1.Waste of any form can create harms to the  environment, if it is not properly disposed. Biomedical waste(BMW) is any form of waste that are generated during health care activities like diagnostic tests, during a medical or surgical procedure, research activities that inclues testing of biological material or while administering immunization. If the BMW is not properly segregated and disposed, that may  contaminate the groundwater sources, which in turn may cause harm to the animals and human.If proper incineration of BMW is not performed, it may lead to environmental hazards including contamination of  the air with dangerous airborne particles. Human exposure to BMW that are improperly disposed may cause bacterial,viral or parasitic infections including lung infections,Skin problems, HIV, Hepatitis B and C, TB, Cholera and Bacteremia.

Injuries with sharps including needle stick injuries posses a serious threat to health care workers daily.Main issues are concerning contamination of these used needles or sharps by HIV, hepatitis B and C pathogens .Sharp waste comprises of any device or object that are used to puncture or lacerate the skin and are proved to be biohazardous.Few examples of sharp BMW are used needles, contaminated glass and certain types of plastics, disposable scalpels and blades and guidewires used in OT during surgery.However the injection wastes contributes to majority of sharp wastes.Sharp containers are puncture proof containers that are designed for disposal of sharp wastes. In the US sharps containers are usually red in colour and has the universal biohazard symbol on it for easy recognition. Sharp containers are usually for one time use, that is once ful,l it is disposed off with the contents in it.It can be reused if the contents are robotically diposed and the container is sterilized before reuse.

2. Almost 58 million people or more are infected with HIV by December 1999. Major cause of this rapid spread is due to shared use of contaminated injecting equipment. This mode of rapid spread of HIV is not only seen in developing countries but also in many developed countries like Italy, Spain, Scotland,and the USA..Once the epidemic of HIV become prevalent among injecting drug users, the other sectors of the community will also be affected at a faster pace. First to sexual partners of those drug addicts, then to rest of the society via sexual transmission.

Clean needles and syringes are provided to the people who inject drugs, through the Needle and syringe program. It is considered to be a type of harm reduction initiative inorder to reduce transmission of HIV and other blood borne disease transmission (hepatitis B and C). The WHO recommends to provide 200 sterile needles and syringes to each person(addict) per year, that will break the chain of transmission of HIV via used needles.The benefits of this program are reduction of HIV seroprevalence, reduction in repeated use of needles and also provide the under privilaged groups access to health and other services. Few research studies conducted in the US concluded that needle and syringe provision can decrease the risk of HIV transmission due to  injecting behaviour by up to 73%. Drug use was not encouraged by the needle and syringe program . Studies shows that there was a reduction from 1.9 to 0.7 injections per day after introduction of this program. Programs to educate the drug users regarding the importance of using sterile injecting equipment, and regarding the de-addiction programmes that can reduce drug-related risks are also included along with Needle and Syringe Program.