One & Only Campaign

With the goal of ensuring that patients are protected each and every time they receive a medical injection, this campaign works to empower patients and re-educate healthcare providers regarding safe injection practices.

The campaign is being piloted in Nevada and New York, 2 states that have suffered from outbreaks linked to unsafe injection practices in recent years. Upon completion of these state pilot campaigns, the One and Only Campaign will expand to additional states and eventually nationwide. To illustrate the strategies used in Nevada, the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Cannon Center for Survey Research conducted a telephone survey of adults in that state to gain insight into the general public's level of knowledge and awareness of safe injection practices, as well as their exposure to public service announcements (PSAs), the One & Only Campaign website (which features resources including campaign materials, frequently asked questions (FAQs), links to related news articles, a training video, and more), and other informational materials that had been distributed in the community. Campaign organisers also held focus groups for healthcare providers and patients in Reno, Elko, and Las Vegas to solicit feedback regarding the brochures and posters that have been created for the campaign (several of which may be downloaded from the Campaign website). They also recruited sites across the state that regularly provide injections to display print materials (posters and brochures) and to distribute surveys.

Health.

According to organisers, since 1999, more than 125,000 patients in the United States have been notified of potential exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and HIV due to lapses in basic infection control practices. Many of these lapses involved healthcare providers reusing syringes, resulting in contamination of medication vials or containers that were then used on subsequent patients.