Connie Tinoco

English 2010
10/21/14
A Dangerous Medical Donation
One would think that the act of giving would be a wonderful act-- many times it is-unless it were something lethal. Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening in many
developing countries time and time again. A medical device used to help with treatment of
illness, is spreading it instead. What am I talking about?

The basic needle syringe is used 100% of the time in surgeries for insertion of
anesthesia, pain relievers, and/or IVs; in preventive care it is used when providing vaccinations;
and in other medical areas the insertion of medications that can only be inserted intravenously.
A majority of patients treated for illness in third world countries are already in a critical status, so
even if the medication were available in another form, the fastest route of entry for the
medication would be needed and thats intravenous injections.
How can this be? One who doesnt live there would need to know the realities of third
world countries to comprehend how the donation of these medical items are causing a problem.

In the photograph above, journalist/photographer Arun Rico took this picture when interviewing
the mother of this child. The girl, whose name is Devi, age 2, goes with her mother every
morning to her mothers job since childcare is not affordable nor available in India. Kumari, the
girls mother, works as a rag picker along with her other two children. Many of the Third Worlds
poor work as trash collectors. Overpopulated, corrupted, ignorant or unshaken into seeing how
helping its own poor can benefit them. The own countrys business employers wont hire the
poor. Those living in the street dont have the resources or even give a shot at an interview!
They would be turned down the instant they are smelled or looked at.
Like many alienated employers, it has become so ingrained in the paupers life that he or
she doesnt question the hazards or the injustice of what he or she has become forced to do.
Many of the poor; especially single moms like Kumari, will wander in the trash as independent
collectors as an alternative to the higher risk occupation of prostitution. You can say she actually
has two independent jobs. A collector and a business woman.
In third world countries; recycling doesnt exist- this opens the opportunity for the poor to
work- but in rash, risky, lethal conditions. Trash in third world countries isnt organized but
carelessly scattered. Here is where the problem comes in with the syringes. These workers
arent wearing protective equipment like trash workers here in the States. Everytime they put
their hands in the trash they run the risk of being poked by a needle carrying infected blood.
Even if they dont get poked, they sell these non sterile syringes for a cheaper price to
buyers who are ignorant of the risk, and allow these items to become a popular vehicle for
diseases. Families usually share scarce resources. You can see now how the syringe has
become an unintentional bioweapon.
The medical community is not excused at all. Unfortunately, they generate the spread of
disease even further. This was testified by bioengineer, Marc Kosaka when he joined a field
research study on HIV/AIDS back in 2008. When he was traveling in India with a medical team,
he eye witnessed the devastation syringes created for two young girls.
A licensed professional, was careless and thoughtless when poking the girls with the
same needle, which was stained with HIV positive blood. The scary part was that the needle
was used on 47 other patients. Whats worse, there were other syringes available. Sterile ones.
The same needle, once upon a time sterile, was infected somewhere along the way and then

spread throughout the crowd. Screenings had to be done, and the girls were found positive and
then thrown out by their parents for fear of the disease. These innocent girls became instant
orphans due to an educated someones carelessness.
I am not saying we as medical donors need to halt all medical supplies instantaneously.
These countries need medical supplies, desperately. It actually wasnt too long ago that there
was action taken by the medical community itself. MedWish, one of the first medical donating
charities, was founded in 1991 by Dr. Ponsky. Before then, volunteering doctors really had to
improvise. For example, some would use bread bags as gloves. (Gloves didnt come into
existence until the 70s when HIV was prevalent.) No, what Im saying is that we need to find
solutions to these problems that syringes are creating. Depletion of them is unrealistic. My
stance is not here. They are too necessary.
We need to think here. Put our heads together. We come from diverse areas of the work
force. Some of us work in the government. We know how the law works. Some of us work in
business. We know what is practical and realistic when using money. Others are in other
professions that are just as useful when integrating ideas. We all have the our desire to help
these communities progress, that is why we donate. We have the power- financially, resource
wise, and academically.
However, I do have some targets I would like us to address as soon as possible. Medical
volunteer coordinators need to find a way to work with the governments to enforce penalties for
those who are negligently practicing medicine. This is unethical and inhumane. Second, we
should further provide or find providers who carry heavy duty gloves to deplete the trash
collectors potential of needle sticks. Lastly, inform communities of the dangers of sharing
needles. Medical donations should decrease mortality rates not increase it.

Works Cited
http://www.ted.com/talks/marc_koska_the_devastating_toll_of_syringe_reuse

http://www.ted.com/talks/rose_george_let_s_talk_crap_seriously#t-221800

Narayaa, Tapan, Municipal Solid Waste Management in India: From Waste Disposal To
Recovery of Resources?. Waste Management 29.3 (2009): 1163-1166. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 21 Oct. 2014
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=0ea67dc3-80c843e9-80f41193698fd698%40sessionmgr4004&hid=4109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#
db=aph&AN=36103637
Putre, Laura, One Hospitals Trash is Anothers Treasure. H&HN:Hospitals & Health Networks
84.6(2010): 17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Oct. 2014
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=0f2fe175-3858-4b4c-b186ed84eb2ae718%40sessionmgr4001&vid=0&hid=4109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3
d%3d#db=aph&AN=51746420

Recycling in Third World Cities. Futurist 23.2 (1989): 50-51. Academic Search premier. Web.
21 Oct. 2014
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=b59dae88-e5c3-4dee-b7a1e34e02e2b046%40sessionmgr4002&vid=0&hid=4109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3
d%3d#db=aph&AN=8903099011