How the issues about Injection Safety will be addressed with one more injectable vaccine being added in the U.I.P.?
Currently, reusable glass syringes and needles and sterilization equipment like autoclaves/double rack steam sterilizers are used throughout India. There is evidence that in some areas the quality and safety of injection techniques and sterilization is uncertain. The Government desires to improve injection safety and is planning to conduct a comprehensive injection safety assessment and use the findings to outline a national policy on the injection safety. However, UIP is moving from using re-sterilizable syringes and needles to auto-disable (AD) syringes in accordance with the WHO-UNICEF-UNFPA policy statement on injection safety. It is planned that in all the 15 cities and 32 districts included under initial launching of Hepatitis B vaccination, AD syringes will be used for all routine immunization of infants, including Hepatitis B vaccines.
