Time to tackle deadly needle pricks - 2010-02-17

Labour's Euro-MPs have called for quick EU action to protect healthcare workers from contracting fatal diseases through injuries from used needles.

The European Parliament has called on government ministers across the EU to prioritise a new European directive to protect people from so called "needlestick injuries", through which it is possible to catch serious blood-borne diseases, including hepatitis and HIV.

Over the last six years Labour's Stephen Hughes MEP has been working with health workers' unions to drive a campaign for European action on the issue.

He said: "The idea that a needle prick could be fatal might raise a few eyebrows, but the danger is very real.

"I have been touched to hear the stories of workers who have experienced these injuries.

"Imagine the anguish that follows an accident with a used needle. The worker and their family can face many months of uncertainty, not knowing if they will acquire a potentially fatal infection or not."

More than one million needlestick injuries are suffered by healthcare workers in Europe each year, most of which are avoidable. They occur when medical staff, such as nurses, doctors, cleaners and laundry workers, are accidentally pricked with a used needle.

European guidelines on how to prevent these injuries were agreed between employers and worker representatives in June last year, but MEPs believe these rules need legal status to ensure that the risks to workers are minimised.

Most injuries can be prevented through appropriate training and working procedures, as well as the use of equipment with needle protection mechanisms.

A decision taken by the European Parliament last week will now put pressure on ministers to deliver legislation that is currently caught up in negotiations with national governments.

Stephen Hughes had authored the 2006 European Parliament report that prompted the proposals for an EU directive to prevent needlestick injuries.

Speaking after the vote, he welcomed the stance taken by the parliament: "For many years Labour MEPs have been pushing for European-wide action to protect healthcare workers. The proposals we voted through today will help give people the protection they deserve."

Richard Howitt MEP, who is Labour's spokesperson in the European Parliament on employment and social affairs, added: "NHS staff and other healthcare workers go to enormous efforts to keep us all healthy. They deserve protection from injuries that can have life-threatening consequences. European ministers need to act now to give legal backing to the European guidelines."

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