WHO promotes use of oral drugs...Daily Graphic (spread)..Tues..June 10/08

Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on member countries to promote the use of oral drugs for the treatment of illnesses rather than injections.
According to WHO, although injections bring faster relief to people seeking treatment, it has been found out that the negative impact associated with its use outweighs that of drugs taken orally.
The negative impacts, which include high burden of blood transmissible diseases such as HIV and hepatitis and the use of unsafe injection practices, according to the organisation, are more predominant in the developing world.
The Deputy Director-General of WHO, Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, made the call in Accra yesterday during the opening of a three-day international workshop on injection safety.
The workshop, which is expected to bring together about 40 health personnel from Africa, the WHO Regional Office and the United States of America is aimed at equipping member states with knowledge and skills that will enable them to ensure safe injection practices.
The workshop will also review the current injection safety situation in participating countries, discuss challenges that need urgent attention, develop strategies to overcome the challenges, review and sign the 2007 recommendations on injection safety, select those that will be appropriate for the African environment and reach a consensus on areas that will need continued WHO support.
Dr Asamoa-Baah called on people to opt for oral drugs rather than injections, since, according to him, injection could cause harm, adding that it was also difficult for people especially in the developing countries to sterilise syringes properly to prevent the transmission of diseases.
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, said although Ghana did not have statistics on the adverse effect of injections, the possibility of people getting an abscess or deformities after an injection was high.
He explained that injection was normally used to arrest severe conditions before drugs were given to patients but said because most people wanted quick relief for their ailments, they resorted to the use of syringes.
The WHO Country Representative, Dr Joaquim Saweka, said more than 70 per cent of injections that were given at primary health care facilities in developing countries were sometimes unnecessary or could be given in oral forms.
Dr Saweka said other unsafe practices, such as poor collection and disposal of dirty injection equipment, exposed healthcare workers and the community to the risk of needle related injuries.
He said to promote the safe use of needles, WHO had strengthened its collaboration with national regulatory authorities to ensure the rational use of injection safety and the quality and safety of injection devices through the enforcement of national regulations based upon international standards.