CDC campaign promotes safe injection practices

The American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living is one of the newest members of a public health effort to raise awareness of safe injection practices among healthcare providers and those for whom they care. The One & Only Campaign, begun in 2009, is led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition, a collaboration of medical societies, state health departments, private medical companies and patient advocates led by the CDC and the CDC Foundation with support from Eli Lilly and Company.

Safe injection practices represent very basic infection control measures, according to the campaign, and yet the CDC routinely identifies and investigates outbreaks associated with deficient practices. The reuse of needles, syringes or single-dose medication vials has affected more than 150,000 patients/residents since 2001, exposing them to life-threatening bacterial infections as well as bloodborne illnesses such as hepatitis and HIV.

Among the other members of the One & Only Campaign are the American Physical Therapy Association, the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare and the National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration/Long Term Care.

Visit the campaign website for a clinician toolkit, a checklist, posters and additional resources.

Lois Bowers

Lois A. Bowers was senior editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long-Term Living from 2013-2015.