WHAT ELSE COULD ANSETT HAVE DONE?

I have just got off the telephone to an operator at Ansett to compliment the
company on its decision to install syringe disposal units on its aircraft.

Much to my dismay I had been the only call of support. Some people had gone
as far as threatening to boycott the airline for making this necessary move
to protect not only us, its prospective passengers, but also its employees.

I never cease to be amazed at the one-track mind that some people get set
into when it comes to issues such as this. I'm afraid the media doesn't help
matters much by focusing solely on the intravenous drug aspects.

As a one-time intravenous drug user, I can assure you I would not think
twice about "hitting up" anywhere I needed to, regardless of whether there
was a needle disposal unit available or not. I promise you that the lack of
available disposable units in public places over all those years did not
deter me from taking drugs, and the new availability of such units does not
make me want to use drugs again.

As 80 per cent of regular intravenous drug users are hepatitis C positive,
and as this virus can live for a long time in the right conditions, Ansett
(as an employer) has the right and obligation to protect its staff from the
very real possibility of a needle-stick injury.

Also, intravenous drug use is not the sole purpose of such disposal units.
Diabetics and others reliant on medications need to be able to administer to
themselves in a safe and private atmosphere, whether that is an aircraft,
restaurant or a public toilet.

For too long such people have paid a heavy cost because of the lack of
foresight from people who think they're doing the right thing, but who have
absolutely no idea about the reality of living in a world where all the harm
from syringe disposal, needle-stick injury, blood-borne viruses and
litigation are absolute.

I commend Ansett for taking this stance and recommend to everyone that if a
huge company is willing to install these disposal units, it does so with
your health and wellbeing in mind.

I ask that people stop getting hoodwinked by hysterical media reports and
begin to look at the big picture.

Denise Haldane, Lorne

Checked-by: Don Beck