Thursday, February 25, 2010

Re-invent the Syringe

    So far I've only posted computer-game related material (I wish I could do more, but their arn't that many great disease oriented games), but i thought I should share a video about the spread of HIV in third-world countries.

   While this is a great idea, I think it will be difficult to prevewnt existing syringes from being reused. Once the substitution begins, reusable syringes will be more prized and used more often to get their moneys worth. It'll take time for this substitute to be used because while it is the same price, it's still more expensive because it cannot be reused. I love this idea of non-reusable syringes, and think that it's great because even factories that make syringes would endorse the product because it forces hospitals to buy more syringes (bad for hospitals though). But the medical factories (is that what they are?) would have to sell or convert existing syringes, but a demand for reusable syringes would lead to demand-fueled inflation.
I hope this works out for the best.

1 comment:

John Latto said...

Great video with some shocking pictures and facts. One point he doesn't make is that in many parts of the world an 'injection' is considered to have the same, almost magical, therapeutic power that the ubiquitous antibiotic does in the US. Many patients virtually demand an injection no matter what ails them and many doctors oblige

Your point about the economics is well taken - if these syringes are the same price but can only be used once they are much more expensive on a per-injection basis.

Still, the video, like nearly all the TED videos provides some food for thought.