Safe in Common to Engage 100,000 Healthcare Personnel Behind Campaign to Protect Millions Now At Risk of Harm from Needlestick Injuries

YORK, Pa., March 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Every day, 5.6 million healthcare personnel in the U.S. are put at risk of occupational exposure to HIV, hepatitis C and other life-threatening blood-borne diseases via transmission modes such as needlestick injuries.

Safe in Common, a non-profit organization of healthcare safety advocates, is launching a nationwide campaign to unite 100,000 U.S. healthcare personnel who believe current Federal standards for needlestick prevention are largely inadequate and that safer devices and other measures are needed to maximize protection to those at risk of harm.

The Needlestick Safety Advocacy Tour being led by Safe in Common will visit more than 50 U.S. hospitals and attend more than a dozen healthcare conferences across 36 metropolitan centers during the coming 12 months.

Dr. Mary Foley, Chairperson of Safe in Common, stated: "As President of the American Nursing Association during the adoption of the Federal Needlestick Prevention Act in 2000, I was honored to have helped our industry take a vital first step toward protecting healthcare personnel at risk of injury. But we must now come together again to help finish the job. I firmly believe that every needlestick injury is preventable with the right equipment, the right procedures and the right culture. I encourage all U.S. healthcare personnel to join me in the signing of the Safe in Common Pledge."

Nancy Purcell-Holmes, Healthcare Safety Advocate for Safe in Common stated: "The risk of contracting a blood-borne disease from a needlestick injury was one of my greatest fears during my 25 year career in nursing. Millions of healthcare personnel continue to share my concern today.  It is unacceptable that so many of my colleagues remain at significant risk of sustaining a needlestick injury, despite government enforcement of Federal standards mandating the use of safety engineered medical equipment and other measures within healthcare facilities. Safe in Common looks forward to engaging with healthcare personnel across the U.S. to listen to their injection safety concerns and raise industry awareness about ways in which we can work together to move beyond compliance and deliver true protection for all those at risk of needlestick injuries."

To receive more information about the Needlestick Safety Advocacy Tour, or to take the pledge, please visit www.safeincommon.org/pledge.

Unilife Corporation, a U.S.-based developer and manufacturer of advanced drug delivery systems, has proudly agreed to sponsor Safe in Common and the Needlestick Safety Advocacy Tour.

Mr. Alan Shortall, CEO of Unilife stated: "Unilife looks forward to working with Safe in Common and other healthcare and pharmaceutical industry leaders who are equally committed to enhancing and saving the lives of healthcare personnel who remain at significant risk of harm from needlestick injuries. A new generation of safety-engineered medical equipment has been developed and launched during the last decade. Products with passive and fully integrated safety features in particular can minimize the risk of needlestick injury to a healthcare worker. It is time to make healthcare personnel more aware of these safer, simpler products."

Cities now scheduled to be visited by Safe in Common during the Needlestick Safety Advocacy Tour are listed below.  Additional cities may be added throughout the year.

• York, Pa.
• Harrisburg, Pa.
• Hersey, Pa.
• Boston, Mass.
• New York, N.Y.
• Orlando, Fla.
• Washington, DC
• Phoenix, Ariz.
• San Antonio, Texas
• Philadelphia, Pa.
• New Brunswick, N.J.
• Hackensack, N.J.
• Paramus, N.J.
• Providence, R.I.
• Hartford, Conn.
• New Haven. Conn.
• Chicago, Ill.
• San Diego, Calif.
• Los Angeles, Calif.
• San Francisco, Calif.
• Houston, Texas
• Las Vegas, Nev.

About Safe in Common

Safe in Common is a non-profit organization established to enhance and save the lives of U.S. healthcare personnel at risk of harm from needlestick injuries.  It is led by Chairperson Mary Foley, PhD, RN, former President of the American Nursing Association and a U.S. leader for needlestick prevention, Healthcare Safety Advocate Nancy Purcell-Holmes, RN, and other industry leaders. Follow Safe in Common at http://www.facebook.com/safeincommon or http://www.twitter.com/safeincommon.

Safe in Common is proudly supported by its lead sponsor Unilife, a U.S. based global leader for advanced drug delivery systems.

About Unilife Corporation

Unilife Corporation (NASDAQ:UNIS / ASX: UNS) is a U.S. based developer and commercial supplier of advanced drug delivery systems. Unilife collaborates with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seeking innovative, differentiated devices that can enable or enhance the delivery of injectable drugs and vaccines supplied in either a liquid stable or lyophilized form. The Unifill syringe, the world's first and only prefilled syringe with fully integrated safety features, sits at the leading edge of this diversified portfolio. In addition to prefilled and hypodermic safety syringes with automatic, user-controlled needle retraction, Unilife has other proprietary technology platforms including drug reconstitution delivery systems, auto-injectors, auto-infusion pump systems, specialized devices for targeted organ delivery. Unilife's global headquarters and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities are located in York, PA. For more information on Unilife, please visit www.unilife.com  

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Media Contacts:

Sharron Silvers / Caitlin Cox
KCSA Strategic Communications
[email protected] / [email protected]
P: 212-682-6300

SOURCE Safe in Common