Melbourne, Australia -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/07/2014 -- Needle stick injuries are a costly and dangerous health risk for health workers worldwide. Mechanical design engineer, Stephen Bartlett believes there is a solution and has introduced a needle stick injury prevention campaign on indiegogo.com.
The primary motive of this movement is to drive awareness and funds to help promote the use and development of safe hypodermic needles worldwide. Bartlett hopes a worldwide needle stick injury prevention campaign will increase demand for safer hypodermics, thus resulting in more affordable needles for health care workers throughout the world.
The number of health care workers affected by needle stick injuries worldwide is staggering. According to Bartlett’s indiegogo.com page, a radio interview in Australia on "The World Today" (17 May 2013) stated that 18,000 plus needle stick injuries incidents are reported each year which require testing. Possibly more than four times that amount are not reported. In addition, further research has shown that needle stick injuries in the USA cost over 680 million dollars a year for pathology testing following incidents. Similar statistics are being shown for other third world countries.
“As an engineer, I am appalled that this situation has been allowed to occur, noting that HIV and hepatitis transmission rates as a result of needle stick injuries are between 2-5 percent,” says Stephen Bartlett. Bartlett goes on to point out that there are several examples of safe hypodermic needles in the market, and yet healthcare workers continue to receive dangerous injuries due to the nature of the traditional throw away syringes.
Bartlett is requesting funds on indiegogo.com to help establish an organisational structure, initiate a global awareness campaign and gather base supporters. Development of alternative cheap and safe hypodermic products with a fully blown marketing campaign will require a larger crowd funding campaign. Donation amounts for the initial campaign range from 25 dollars to 25,000 dollars and include enrollment at different levels of the organisation depending on donation amount. The highest donation allows contributors to be part of the steering committee for the campaign. Their role will include advising Bartlett on the best methods of achieving the organisation’s aims. The perk for a 25 dollar donation includes membership in the worldwide organisation.
About Needle Stick Injury Prevention
Stephen Bartlett has initiated a campaign on indiegogo.com to raise awareness for the dangers of needle stick injuries among healthcare workers worldwide. The campaign is seeking funds to promote the development and use of safer hypodermic needles. For more information, visit http://igg.me/p/620779