“Sex no, but AIDS yes”

Pressbox (Press Release) - “Sex no, but AIDS yes”

Currently 40% of injections given in the developing world are unsafe according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Sex is often sighted as the way in which HIV/AIDS is spread and to some extent this is true however it becomes an excuse for Health organisations and governments to ignore other transmission routes such as dirty syringes. Recent research has found many children with HIV/AIDS whose parents are healthy. If hereditary and sexual transmission are ruled out the only other factor common to these children is medical injections.

Millions of pounds every year are being spent on treating HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis by the same organisations spreading the disease with unsafe injections.

For 20 years inventor Marc Koska has been working on this problem promoting the need for sterile injections across the developing world.

Marc Koska invented K1, a syringe that can only be used once before it locks and breaks preventing its reuse and the spread of disease as a result. This technology coupled with education in the dangers of syringe reuse has saved in excess of a million lives in the last two years. However the myth, perpetuated by governments that sex is the major cause of HIV/AIDS continues to slow recognition of the dangers.


About Marc Koska:
Marc Koska invented the K1 auto disable syringe in 1996, overcoming considerable scepticism that there was a need for safer Injections. Little was then known about HIV/AIDS and the spread of infection through needle reuse generally. To overcome this, Koska became (and remains) a tireless champion of safe injections. Both individually and through Star Syringe, the company he founded to market and manufacture K1, he has lobbied the medical community, has tirelessly pressured third world governments to adopt safe injection technologies through legislation and has stood up to pressure from the wealthy medical device industry who would rather see K1 fall by the wayside. Koska’s greatest triumph may as a result lie in the simple fact that the auto-disable approach is increasingly becoming the default standard for all injections in third-world countries.

Something of a maverick, Koska spurns formality even in the business environment. He has a background as an accomplished Yachtsman and his progress as an inventor has been largely intuitive. He lives in Sussex with his wife and three young children.

About Star Syringe
Founded by Marc Koska in 1996, Star Syringe manufactures the K1 auto disable syringe and other products invented by its founder.

Star’s set up and approach is unique. It is a marketing, lobbying, and product development organization which outsources the manufacturing process. Its success is underlined by the fact that legislation supporting the adoption of AD syringes has now been passed in 15 countries. And Star has now licensed over 16 manufacturers around the globe where its competitors in the traditional disposable syringe market have only one.

K1 was developed by Star with maximum simplicity in mind, primarily to suit the needs of existing manufacturers largely in the Third World. It was designed to be made on existing production equipment, for the same cost as a normal disposable syringe and to be used in a manner as close as possible to that of familiar products. This provides the most practical and economic solution for those who require it. As such, Star’s business model therefore brings real economic benefits to the communities in which K1 is manufactured and deployed.

Through its 16 licensee manufacturers worldwide, over 300 million units of the K1 AD syringes have been produced to date. Star’s K1 is endorsed by the Word Health Organisation (WHO) and is used by UNICEF to deliver safe injections for its global Tuberculosis immunisation programme as well as The Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (USA) in Africa. Furthermore K1 is used to supply China and Vietnam’s auto disable (AD) syringe market.


For further information, photographs or to request an interview contact:
Kirsteen Hodgson, Design and PR.
Star Syringe Ltd,
Star House,
Pippingford,
TN22 3HW.
Tel: 01825 713 888. Fax: 01825 713 838
www.starsyringe.com
khodgson@starsyringe.com