Eli Lilly joins CDC safe injection campaign

January 12th, 2015

A government-private partnership is breathing new life into the One & Only Campaign, as Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand its injection safety program.

The company is providing funding and staff as part of the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC), a partnership of healthcare-related organizations, patient advocacy organizations, industry partners, and the CDC and other public health partners.

Since 2001, the CDC has conducted some 50 investigations into viral hepatitis and bacterial outbreaks associated with unsafe injection practices. Overall, more than 150,000 patients have been notified that they might have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV due to unsafe injection practices, says Joseph Perz, DrPH, a health care epidemiologist and team leader in the prevention and response branch at the CDC’s division of healthcare quality promotion.

As part of the new partnership, SIPC will create tools for physician training as well as safe injection messages for YouTube and other social media, he says.

“We’ve spent the last four or five years building a good foundation in terms of useful and impactful materials, including print materials, brochures, posters, and – most importantly – a strong presence on the web,” Perz adds. “We hope to increase the outreach and presence we have on social media.”