The sun rises on another beautiful day in the province of Bandung, Indonesia. The hustle and bustle of the day has already begun. Men and women busy themselves with morning chores. Children attending school congregate in the yard, catching up with friends before the serious studying of the day begins.  For now however, it is more important to get out into the sunshine and have some fun.

Dede, Ari and Ali, three nine year old boys rush excitedly around the playground clutching their latest toys – “water pistols” bought from the local toy shop near school. But these are not made to be toys: they are old, used plastic syringes. The boys fill the devices with water and fire water jets at each other. Ari takes a quick shot at Dede and laughs as Dede wipes the water droplets from his eyes, nose and mouth. Water that unbeknown to him, has just been ejected from a used syringe still containing particles of dried blood. A patient’s blood. Not that any of the boys are aware of the great risk they are in. Why should they? These are toys – used for fun and play. They bought them from the friendly man who owns the local toy shop. They are harmless – aren’t they?

NO SYRINGE IS SAFE ONCE IT HAS BEEN USED!

The names above are fictitious. The story is not. This popular children’s game played in many of the 200,000 schools in Indonesia is putting the health of these young people at serious risk. These “water pistols” are used syringes that have been discarded as medical waste by health clinics and hospitals. Although used syringes should be incinerated to prevent the transmission of blood borne pathogens like HIV and Hepatitis, this practice is not routinely followed. Many end up in public waste sites where they are picked out and sold onto plastic wholesalers, who make a living from washing and recycling the syringes before selling them on again, repackaged, as commercial products. Local doctors or quacks buy them as “clean” syringes, using them again on trusting patients. Other syringes are bundled and sold on to the toy shops to tempt unsuspecting children.

SYRINGES SHOULD BE USED ONCE ONLY AND DISPOSED OF CAREFULLY

A syringe is a medical device designed solely for the purpose of administering an injection. Due to the potential and risk of cross infection from viruses like HIV and Hepatitis, a syringe should be used for the delivery of a single injection only, and then disposed of in a sharps box. SafePoint has observed water pistols for sale that still contain residual traces of blood. Would you want your loved ones to be playing with these “toys”, knowing they are derived from used and possibly contaminated syringes?

SafePoint needs your help urgently to raise awareness and put a stop to this dangerous game. Schools and families need to be informed of the health risk of playing with dirty syringes, and to know more about where they come from. Our SafePoint representatives are working every day to inform as many children and families as possible, but we still have a long way to go. Can you help us to achieve our goal?

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