We’ve been featuring some of the most notable achievements in our history, including helping to develop a smart sticker that can show when a vaccine has been exposed to heat that might sap its effectiveness and increasing immunization against hepatitis B in Indonesia. Now, here’s the fourth in our series on milestones from PATH’s first 35 years.

1987 to 1992: Created the SoloShot™ syringe

The health challenge: Reuse and infection from contaminated needles is a major source of disease transmission in the developing world. An estimated 50 percent of injections in developing countries were estimated to be unsafe.

The SoloShot™ syringe. Photo: PATH/Glenn Austin.

What we did: PATH developed and implemented one of the first feasible approaches to nonreusable syringes for immunizations: an autodisable syringe with a fixed needle that automatically locks after a single injection. PATH collaborated with a private-sector partner, BD, to ensure the syringes were affordable and available in low-resource settings.

The result: Our work led to the development of other autodisable syringes, increasing competition and availability while lowering prices. Since commercial introduction in 1992, 6 billion vaccinations have been delivered using SoloShot™ syringes by public health programs in more
than 40 developing and emerging countries.