Global Annual Impact and Risk: The World Health Organization estimates that there are over 35 million health care workers globally. These workers face an increased risk of infection from blood-borne pathogens simply because of their exposure to blood and other body fluids. This risk increases substantially for the tens of thousands of health care workers who experience a sharps-related injury. These injuries are associated with the highest risk of disease transmission. Globally, the sharps injury rates vary dramatically-between 0.2 and 4.7 sharps injuries per year. At the same time, there is a stark difference in infections rates attributable to sharps injuries based on location in a developed or undeveloped country.

Regions where programs have been put in place to reduce and treat sharps injuries have successfully reduced both exposure rates and infections rates, protecting their health care workers.

Prevention: Successful reduction in number of sharps injuries and infection prevention have been successfully achieved in regions that implement:

• Safe sharps handling and disposal programs
• Immunization of health care workers
• Use of safety products like safety lancets
• Post exposure prophylaxis (PEP)

HTL-STREFA is committed to manufacturing safety products designed to reduce or eliminate the risk of exposure to blood borne pathogens. We are the leading manufacturer of single-use, safety lancets. Our unique designs features are:

• Dual-spring design to ensure complete needle retraction
• Full housing to prevent needle exposure before and after activation
• Self-destruct mechanisms to prevent lancet reuse