[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 171 (Saturday, November 22, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2404-E2405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               COMBATING THE SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT GARRETT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 21, 2003

  Mr. GARRETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to share with this body the 
extraordinary work being done by a constituent company of mine, BD, the 
Becton, Dickinson and Company of Franklin Lakes, NJ in combating the 
spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
  First, I would like to applaud the Senate's efforts in passing the 
McConnell-Sessions-Leahy amendment, as part of the Foreign Operations 
Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2004 that will provide funding to 
combat unsafe medical practices in Africa as a means to preventing the 
spread of HIV/AIDS on that continent.

[[Page E2405]]

  This bipartisan effort directs the Bush administration to spend at 
least $75 million on injection and blood safety programs in 12 African 
countries as part of the President's overall $15 billion HIV/AIDS 
initiative. This funding is an important first step in addressing the 
issue of disease spread through unsafe medical practices in Africa, and 
I urge my colleagues who will be participating in the conference 
committee to preserve this important amendment.
  Which brings me to the work of BD. In business for over a century, 
BD, is a global medical technology company that serves healthcare 
institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry 
and the general public. BD manufactures and sells a broad range of 
medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products 
and employs over 25,000 people in 18 states and around the world.
  BD has a long, distinguished history not only in the development of 
medical technologies but also in partnering with global and domestic 
health entities and governments to tackle some of the major public 
health issues of our time. An example: BD pioneered the development of 
sterilization technology for medical devices and provided the first 
mass-produced sterile disposable syringes--at cost--to Dr. Jonas Salk 
for his nationwide polio vaccination efforts in 1954.
  BD is currently working with the WHO, UNICEF, the International Red 
Cross and other organizations to provide low-cost ``auto-disable'' 
needles and syringes that are specifically designed to combat the 
spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases by preventing reuse in 
the developing world.

  BD has devoted years of dedicated effort and innovation to this 
issue, even though BD does not manufacture the vast majority of 
injection devices utilized in the developing world. Still, the 
company's commitment to this issue has manifested in many ways, 
including development of low-cost technologies specifically designed to 
address this developing world need, collaboration with international 
agencies in development of appropriate safe injection policies for mass 
immunization programs, and substantial philanthropic commitments in 
support of international vaccination efforts utilizing safe injection 
technology for deadly diseases such as maternal and neonatal tetanus 
and measles.
  These commitments and investments occurred because BD believes their 
expertise and resources can have a very positive impact on these 
significant global health issues. In fact, their commitment to the 
global health arena is part of the company's overall mission: ``Helping 
all people live healthy lives.''
  As a result of BD's efforts and the leadership of international 
agencies, U.S. government agencies and the work of some other medical 
equipment manufacturers of auto-disable syringes that prevent reuse are 
already in broad use for childhood immunization programs in Africa and 
some other developing countries.
  Efforts were first focused on childhood immunization because these 
injections are generally administered simultaneously to large groups of 
children, increasing the potential for disease spread. And to date 
there has been significant progress. It is estimated that 75 percent of 
immunizations in Africa are administered safely with auto-disable 
devices. However, immunizations represent only approximately 10 percent 
of all injections given in Africa. The need exists to expand reuse 
prevention technologies to the larger number of injections given for 
therapeutic purposes.
  To accomplish this, BD and other manufacturers are expanding the 
application of low-cost reuse prevention technologies to a broad array 
of injection devices. These devices are designed to physically disable 
after a single use, preventing spread of disease from reuse. And while 
effective technology is critical for success, it is not enough.
  To get these devices into broad use, government and non-government 
agencies, international aid organizations, health ministries in 
developing countries, and manufacturers must collaborate to ensure that 
these reuse prevention devices are made broadly available in developing 
countries. Also, healthcare providers will need to be educated about 
the risks of injection device reuse, and trained on the proper use of 
reuse prevention technologies. This will require a larger investment 
compared with the successful effort to ensure safe immunization of 
children in Africa.
  Injections administered in Africa and the developing world are often 
unsterile and may transmit infectious disease, due to either improper 
reuse of disposable syringes and needles designed for single use or to 
ineffective resterilization of reusable glass syringes. World Health 
Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC) estimates indicate that approximately 40% of injections in the 
developing world are administered with reused, unsterile medical 
devices. In the year 2000 alone, WHO estimates that 500,000 new HIV/
AIDS infections, 2 million new hepatitis C infections, and 21 million 
new hepatitis B infections resulted from improper reuse of injection 
devices.
  The global HIV/AIDS disease burden is staggering, growing 
exponentially, and can no longer be ignored. Last year alone, 3.5 
million people in Sub-Saharan Africa were infected with the disease. 
Since 1981, an estimated 20 million people worldwide have died from the 
disease--and another 42 million around the globe may already be 
infected.
  The passage of the McConnell-Sessions-Leahy amendment and its 
preservation by the conference committee will give a tremendous boost 
to global efforts to further prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa 
and the rest of the developing world due to this unsafe medical 
practice. But make no mistake about it; the McConnell-Sessions-Leahy 
amendment is only a first step in a long journey toward resolving this 
issue. We need to remain steadfast in our support to improve Privileged 
and Confidential-DRAFT ReRelease] 113103 medical conditions in Africa, 
and committed to working with all of the necessary parties to ensure 
the outcome that we know is possible.
  I am proud of BD's involvement and commitment to this issue, and I 
commend them for their efforts and leadership. To me it is a glowing 
example of what a good global corporate citizen can and should be.

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