A behaviour changing syringe : making invisible risk, visible to deter the reuse of syringes in a curative context

Medical devices are a core component of health systems, and thus required for achieving universal health coverage, and have been recognized as indispensable for health care provision in the World Health As-sembly resolution, on health technologies (WHA60.29) in 2007. These health technologies are required in screening, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, but their safe use, rational selection, assessment, effective regulation and innovation remain a very complicated challenge in all set-tings, due to the enormous diversity, lack of availability, quality, safety, appropriateness and affordability, particularly in low-resource settings. Therefore, even if important awareness has been raised in the last few years, patients still lack access to priority medical devices and thus much work has to be done by health professionals, governments, academia and industry, among many others. Following the resolution of 2007, the priority medical devices report and the success of the First WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices in Thailand in 2010, WHO became highly committed to the important work related to medical devices. New WHO tools and publications were developed and disseminated to increase awareness in the field in ministries of health, industry and academia. Several workshops and continuous capacity building in various countries and regions led to a high demand from medical device stakeholders, for a second global forum that would follow-up and expand on the topics and recommenda-tions presented previously. Accordingly, in August 2013, WHO determined to convene a Second Global Forum on Medical Devices to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 22-24 November 2013. The objectives of the Forum were to: (i) define methods of increasing access to priority medical devices under the Universal Health Coverage initiative; (ii) share evidence on best practices in health technology assessment, management and regulation of medical devices; (iii) demonstrate the development and use of appropriate and innovative technologies that respond to global health priorities; and (iv) present the outcomes of the implementation of the World Health Assembly resolution on health technologies (WHA60.29) and the status of actions resulting from the First Global Forum on Medical Devices...