The medical device sector on June 7 hailed Andhra Pradesh's move to use auto-disable syringes for all clinical purposes from World Hepatitis Day on July 28 to prevent infection.

Andhra Pradesh would be the first state in the country to take this move, which will be enforced from the World Hepatitis Day, said Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) Forum Coordinator Rajiv Nath. "We applaud the initiative being taken by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to ensure one injection will be given from one syringe by mandating universal usage of auto-disable syringes in all clinical/therapeutic cases as part of infection prevention with effect from World Hepatitis Day," he said in a statement.

He urged the Central government and other states to follow the lead taken by Andhra government in healthcare system, strengthening and lowering the burden of infections by breaking the cycle of cross infection. "Let there be no more Unnao, no more Modasa type tragedies in India," said Rajiv Nath, a trustee of Safe Point, which is working to create awareness about safe injections.

He recalled that when auto-disable syringes were introduced in the mass immunisation campaign in India, Andhra Pradesh was the first state to introduce this before the Central government decided to make it mandatory for all immunisation injections. "Immunisation injections however account for only 10-15 per cent of all injections. Bulk of injections are used for clinical therapeutic use. Central government should now consider to convert advisories to definitive directives on this issue to all central and state government public health facilities," he said.