British Inventor proud of one-use syringe

A British painter and decorator-turned-inventor has spoken of his pride as his one-use syringe that has been 30 years in the making has been endorsed by the World Health Organisation.

Marc Koska, 53, said he had the idea to create an auto-disable syringe which effectively breaks after use after reading a newspaper article about the spread of HIV through shared needles.

The design that he eventually came up with, the Lifesaver Syringe, is already being used in dozens of developing countries where it has saved countless lives.

A new WHO policy will mean that all countries around the world have to use so-called ‘smart’ syringes by 2020, while it is encouraging manufacturers to start making them as soon as possible.

A recent WHO-sponsored study estimated that in 2010, up to 1.7m people were infected with hepatitis B, up to 315,000 with hepatitis C virus, and as many as 33,800 had HIV transmitted through unsafe injections.

Koska, who also formed the SafePoint charity in 2006 to spread the message of the dangers of re-using needles, said he has been to 64 developing countries in the last 10 years where he has seen his invention used on the ground.

Koska, from Danehill, Sussex, said he developed the device while making a living as a painter.