must be mighty poor if they can't boil water.

> V.Kemp wrote:

> I don't use technology to kill the poor.

Why don't you tell us? You're the only one present who does it.

rofl

We are living in a world where it seems we have to sue for the right to innovate...why is this?

since its the third world, instead of gauges and meters you can tell the temperature by the amount of time the steam takes to kill a rodent

Interesting info from the WHO regarding this topic:

"Reuse of syringes and needles in the absence of sterilization exposes millions of people to infections. Assessments carried out in numerous countries have revealed that syringes and needles are often just rinsed in a pot of tepid water between injections. Worldwide, up to 40% of injections are given with syringes and needles reused without sterilization and in some countries this proportion is as high as 70%."

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs231/en/index.html

The question is, what happened to all the glass syringes, which COULD be sterilized with an autoclave, or, for that matter even a lighter.  Why did they introduce plastic syringes in the first place?

Because glass breaks, plastics bend

But you don't listen to logic, reason, intelligence, or differing views.

I could put a bet on you not listening to others at $10,000 per person and they each risking a penny.

In five years I could retire off those bets

I don't get it..how does breaking a syringe needle infect the nurse?

[duplicate post]

Ok...did anyone else notice that the one option that is used to say "we arent developing safer options" has nothing to do with the reuse safety of it (simply that it is a single use syringe, I am pretty sure that most, if not all, syringes are designed for single use). Furthermore, the intended improvement is that it is retractable and offers protection for the injector, and has very little to do with the protection of the patient (which is the real point of this thread, since we are talking about the poor). The reuse of a syringe is ENTIRELY dependant on sterilisation techniques, and the makers of a syringe cannot be held accountable if their products are misued. Furthermore, if a single use syringe is reused, is it the fault of the manufactorer, or other governments? This is all about how medical science in those countries operate. The change to glass needles still wont change their sterilisation techniques, nor coming up with a retractable needle, etc. It has to do with education, which technological advances cannot be held accountable.

Also, you need to equate most things you say with "what will historians look back on this and say?" is nothing more than fear-mongering techniques. We can only really base historians attitudes with how history is conducted today and in the past, and for the most part, they usually focus on big events that are bad (ie. world wars), or just the general development of societies. When I was studying history, I found historians (I mean real historians, not the guy that rights about his grandfathers journal from the war) are merely pointing out the progression of events. Do we look back on medieval times and say "ooooo leaches are barbaric!", or do we focus more on the technique of the times and how things progressed? The study of history is not about judgement, but about finding out where we developed from, and to prevent previous mistakes. A better question would be "what will the current world think of such madness and craziness taking over?".

Now to end on a better note, noone is disagreeing that there are unhygenic practices in Africa (one thing to also note is people that are against female circumcision in Western countries...because that only leads the girls being taken back to Africa to have the surgery performed in unsanitory conditions), but you are directing your anger towards the wrong people, and once again trying to draw links between wealth and the problems of the world. There is an emerging pattern, you hate rich people (the patent thread you were against patents because it only helps the rich get richer, the greece thread you outright stated that rich people are bad, and here once again, you are stating that the rich people are the cause of problems in Africa). You dislike being called a communist, but a pure communist is also against uneven wealth distribution, and you are clearly against a free market and capitalism...if this is your stance, embrace it, learn about it, and maybe come and join me in China , but really, you need to take a long hard look at what you are against, what you want to achieve, and the way to achieve it...

OMG wornstrum.  We've flooded the market with plastic syringes that cannot be sterilized properly for reuse.  The next time you have to go into a doctor's office or hospital in China there to get your blood taken for your mandatory medical test for your visa, and the nurse opens the plastic bag in front of you, you'll get the impression that of course it is the first time that syringe is being used.  But how will you ever know that to save money (or to make a little extra on the side) how do you know the hospital or doctor's office administrator contracted the cheapest medical supplies contractor, and this contractor gets kids (abandoned second-child orphans maybe?) to go scrounge around local dump to get syringes and put them into plastic bags.  When the nurse opens that plastic bag, pricks you, and takes your blood, and then YOU mysteriously get HIV six months later, will you change your stance on this?

Who told you they CAN'T be reused?

Aren't you going to shrink the supply of syringes in the Third World by banning perfectly sound syringes? You KNOW you don't have enough of your new ones to make up the difference

my god you are promoting another flu epidemic of 1918 to make a few dollars for the medical health industry

the Death, the Devastation you are proposing!  whole villages struck down by plague, the millions of refugees the wars throughout Africa and Asia just for your damn syringes

why does 1/3 of the human race have to perish? WHY DAMN YOU TELL ME WHY TELL ME WHY THE CHILDREN HAVE TO DIE

are you going to put a condom over the EU to keep out the viruses?  Will it be soundproof so you don't hear the SCREAMING

The plastic syringe is merely an example of how we create technology which either intentionally or unintentionally kills us.   The people who came out with the plastic syringe (hopefully) designed it without regard to the effect it would have.   HOPEFULLY they didn't know that people in underdeveloped countries would attempt to re-use them.  Or did they?

Too often is technology designed via a top-down paradigm: the technology has a one-dimensional intended use, and "directions" for the intended use often go unheeded by the users.  New technology should rather be designed via a down-up paradigm, where the people who will actually use the technology provide directions the designer about how THE USER intends to use the technology.

If HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis, etc., has been spread due to the re-use of plastic syringes, who is to blame?  The users of the technology or the designer? 

The mindset of designers of new technologies needs to change.  They need to start designing technology according to how the users of that technology intend use it, not according to the designers' or producers' intended use of the technology.  A paradigm shift in their thinking needs to occur.  Force it:  hold designers / producers accountable for the effects their products have on our societies.   

"you need to take a long hard look at what you are against, what you want to achieve, and the way to achieve it..."

You're right.  Right now, I want to find a way to change the way products are designed, a non-profit, non-partisan lobby group think tank which analyses the past, present, and future sociological effects products or technologies have on humanity, and lobby governments and regulatory bodies with our organization's findings to STOP THE BLOODY MADNESS going on out there.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.