Founder Marc Koska interviewed at TED 2011 on saving lives, syringe re-use and SafePoint

Whilst at TED 2011 Marc was interviewed by TakePart, a digital media company with a singular mission: To make participating in positive change easy, rewarding, and part of everyday life.

To read this candid interview and find out more about TakePart, click here.

Hear Marc's Talk on NY Brand Lab Radio

If you didn't get a chance to tune in to Marc's talk on NY Brand Lab Radio, don't worry! Click here to listen to the interview and hear SafePoints breaking news on Tanzania….

Mara moja katika maisha, mara nguni ni kifo

"Once is life, twice is death" in Swahili

FACT: In Africa, 20 million medical injections contaminated with blood from a patient with HIV are administered every year. (Source: Reid 2009) This is a problem so severe that the WHO (World Health Organisation) reports that 50% of all injections given globally are unsafe.

Four committed mums will climb Mount Kilimanjaro for the SafePoint Trust starting their climb on Thursday 28th October for nine days they will experience an example of virtually every ecosystem on earth. On the surface, not an unusual challenge to raise money for a charity; indeed they will blend into 25,000 people who set foot in Tanzania, every year, to climb Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. But the difference about this climb is the girls have one purpose - to give something back to the Tanzanian community.

They celebrate being the first all-mother group to climb the gruelling Western Beach route in support of the SafePoint Trust, a UK-based charity that uses information to solve basic healthcare problems – with a particular focus on unsafe injections. SafePoint runs hard-hitting public awareness campaigns, targeting both healthcare workers and the general public, increasing their knowledge of how to give and receive safe injections. SafePoint also actively lobbies for the change in legislation to using AD (Auto Disable) syringes only (International Standards Organization (ISO) standard AD syringes that can physically only be used once).

Money raised from this climb will benefit Tanzania directly; a substantial donation of AD syringes, compliant with the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA), will be given to the Ministry to distribute and stock hospitals with a life saving product. Allowing the 33,000 healthcare workers that have already been trained to use AD syringes (under the John Snow Inc President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (JSI PEPFAR) project) to do their jobs properly, to save lives, not take them:

"Mara moja katika maisha, mara nguni ni kifo."

Used once is life, used twice is death.

The team of mums climbing have collectively ten children between them and hope that news of their climb and the SafePoint message will spread to all mothers in Tanzania to ensure that they demand for all their children and family members, the following:

1. A syringe, is always taken from a new sterile packet
2. Ensure it is used once only on the patient
3. Then make sure it is safely disposed of in a sharps bin

Live Chat with Marc Koska

Reboot America chat with Marc Koska, Founder of The SafePoint Trust

held on Tuesday 19th October 2010 and hosted by Joshua Robinson:

Hello everyone and welcome to this afternoon's live chat with Marc Koska. For more than 20 years, he's been working on the problem of unsafe injections throughout the developing world. And today, he's here to answer our questions.

Joshua Robinson:
Welcome Marc, thanks for joining us.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:32 Joshua Robinson
1:32

marc koska:
very welcome
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:32 marc koska
1:33

Joshua Robinson:
In 1997, you patented what is known as an auto-disable syringe, which insures that no needle can be used twice. Can you explain why it is so vital?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:33 Joshua Robinson
1:35

marc koska:
sadly in the developing world syringes are reused. the problem needed a number of solutions but one of them was an economic syringe designed so that it could only be used once. that would stop the transmission resulting from the reuse of many fatal viruses.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:35 marc koska
1:36

Joshua Robinson:
When we last spoke (for this piece on the Daily Beast), you told me about some truly shocking medical practices in the developing world. Could you describe a few of those here?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:36 Joshua Robinson
1:36

marc koska:
the syringe I designed can be made on the same machinery, for the same cost and used in the same way as a normal, plastic syringe.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:36 marc koska
1:37

marc koska:
sure.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:37 marc koska
1:38

marc koska:
in India 62% of all injections given are unsafe, resulting in something like 300,000 deaths a year.
in Pakistan there are not enough syringes in the country for each person yet on average each person receives 14!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:38 marc koska
1:40

marc koska:
bkr's question:
I read a newspaper article in 1984 which predicted syringes as a possible problem and that started me off!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:40 marc koska
1:40

[Comment From bkrbkr: ]
Was there singular, memorable instance (or person) that inspired you to set down the path of creating the auto-disable syringe?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:40 bkr
1:41

[Comment From BenBen: ]
I wonder if you could compare your own success with getting the one-use syringe to catch on in Africa with the less successful campaigns to encourage condom use there. Both measures are important to fighting HIV. Why has the latter lagged?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:41 Ben
1:41

marc koska:
ben's question:
Not an expert but think that condoms are not administered at point of use if you get my point by health professionals. doctors and healthcare workers should know better.. First Do No Harm!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:41 marc koska
1:42

[Comment From Alan TrainAlan Train: ]
Can you talk for a moment about the types of corruption you encountered in the Third World. Aid workers complain all the time about this sort of thing. Where was the "bakshish" resistance and how do you get around it?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:42 Alan Train
1:42

marc koska:
Alan Train: Always refused, and never got involved. Probably slowed us down, but I sleep OK!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:42 marc koska
1:43

Joshua Robinson:
But more generally, it hasn't always been easy dealing with local health officials has it?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:43 Joshua Robinson
1:45

The Daily Beast:
Check out SafePoint Trust's website to learn more.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:45 The Daily Beast
1:45

marc koska:
OK I guess, but they are mostly in very slow systems. we are only trying to help so it is very frustrating to see a solution not applied as fast as it might. that lead me to find other solutions to push through such as media pressure on politicians.

Sonny B: Yes. I was not the first guy to think of this. But all designs before me were immunisation based which is a small (5%) market. Mine was the first one for all injection types.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:45 marc koska
1:46

[Comment From SonnyBSonnyB: ]
Have other syringe manufacturers followed your lead?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:46 SonnyB
1:47

[Comment From JLJL: ]
What are the next innovations you are working on ?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:47 JL
1:47

marc koska:
JL: Better needles for the developed world, less plastic, and innovative ways of functioning during the injection.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:47 marc koska
1:48

[Comment From Guest Guest : ]
What I want to know if how prevelant it was and what sorts of pressures were put on you by those looking to corrupt the system
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:48 Guest
1:49

marc koska:
Guest: It is out there! Cash is King!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:49 marc koska
1:49

[Comment From cb cb : ]
Do they use your syringes in first-world hospitals?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:49 cb
1:50

[Comment From kk kk : ]
Do you consider this your life work? What did you do before you created SafePoint?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:50 kk
1:50

marc koska:
KK: Yes, at least until 50% all of all injections in the developing world are safe.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:50 marc koska
1:51

The Daily Beast:
Hey guys, keep those questions coming and we'll make sure Mr. Koska sees them!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:51 The Daily Beast
1:51

marc koska:
cb: No. Firstly we only target developing world and on the whole the west is pretty good.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:51 marc koska
1:51

[Comment From DR. DDR. D: ]
What is the cost to use your syringes as compared to the old method of reusing? Correct me if I'm wrong but It seems like single-use syringes would cost more overall.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:51 DR. D
1:55

The Daily Beast:
On SafePoint's website check out videos of Mr. Koska and his tireless work to educate and save lives.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:55 The Daily Beast
1:55

marc koska:
Well reusing a syringe 20 times makes each injection a fraction of a penny in cost. The drug however is many times the cost of one syringe. Auto-Disable syringes cost approx 5¢ each. Normal syringes approx 4¢.
The point is that anywhere in the world would we condone the transmission of HIV or Hepatitis for 5¢. Just financially it costs any country thousands of $ per case, without even touching on the human side.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:55 marc koska
1:55

[Comment From CC: ]
Do you have a medical background?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:55 C
1:56

marc koska:
C; product design
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:56 marc koska
1:56

[Comment From cbcb: ]
But I feel like I have seen nurses in modern hospitals using single-use syringes. Has this now become an industry?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:56 cb
1:57

marc koska:
cb: All syringes are disposable. The new design are called Auto-Disable, and can only be used once.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:57 marc koska
1:57

[Comment From KLMKLM: ]
How do you fund this project? Do you have independent fundraisers or do you align yourself with a specific charity?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:57 KLM
1:58

marc koska:
KLM: I fund it through private support.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:58 marc koska
1:58

Were you aware that this was such a global problem?
yes
( 33% )
no
( 33% )
I am now
( 33% )

Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:58
1:58

marc koska:
pls do check out www.marckoska.com and www.safepointtrust.org for more information
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:58 marc koska
1:59

[Comment From Yankee FanYankee Fan: ]
Are needles the end of the road or is the theory the same with all sterilized medical equipment. Ie, what other possibilities are there?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 1:59 Yankee Fan
2:01

marc koska:
Great ?
There are many wonderful concepts and products out there and I want them to succeed.
But for the developing world I fear the technology will not reach economic levels for mass use. Multi tiered world we live in!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:01 marc koska
2:02

[Comment From MikeDoverMikeDover: ]
Whose responsibility is it to use these syringes? The doctor or the patient?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:02 MikeDover
2:02

marc koska:
doctor in theory but in practice it is both plus the Government through supplies and legislation
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:02 marc koska
2:03

Joshua Robinson:
Can you elaborate on the importance of educating patients to ask for new syringes?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:03 Joshua Robinson
2:04

The Daily Beast:
The question is simple: Would you want to get an injection with a clean sterile syringe or a used dirty one? Be a lifesaver.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:04 The Daily Beast
2:06

Should 1st-world countries withhold foreign aid to a developing world country unless basic health principles were in practice?
yes
( 100% )
no
( 0% )

Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:06
2:06

marc koska:
there are many pressures on developing world health systems and the health care worker is "second to God!" So by informing the public we force a standard of behaviour upon both parties.

pls watch "Making the Point" on the film section of www.safepointtrust.org and you can see i tackled this in india.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:06 marc koska
2:07

[Comment From Young DentistYoung Dentist: ]
Are the needles being used in third world dentistry?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:07 Young Dentist
2:08

marc koska:
Yes they are but not enough! However dentists have systems specific to dentistry so not always applicable to use a plastic syringe, due to cartridges and drugs.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:08 marc koska
2:09

Joshua Robinson:
Where have you encountered resistance to the single-use syringes — either from patients, doctors, or governments?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:09 Joshua Robinson
2:12

marc koska:
Governments. AD syringes save money as less are used in time as less illness is spread (by doctors!). So it is so unbelievable that the phone isn't ringing with invitations, but I have to call them!
Individuals are sane, and don't wish to be harmed. Governments can't see the wood for the trees!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:12 marc koska
2:13

Joshua Robinson:
You'll be speaking at the Daily Beast's Innovators Summit this week in New Orleans. Can you give us a preview of what you will be talking about?
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:13 Joshua Robinson
2:15

The Daily Beast:
Check up on all the panelists and speakers who will be at TDB's Reboot America Innovator's Summit starting later this week in NOLA.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:15 The Daily Beast
2:15

marc koska:
Well I want to tell my story but stress the future challenges that not only my subject face but many for helping the developing world. I believe there has to be a better way of helping speed up the scaling of winning, proven ideas and that has to be connected with open sourcing.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:15 marc koska
2:16

Joshua Robinson:
Thanks for joining us today, Marc. For more information about Marc’s work, be sure to check out www.safepointtrust.org and www.marckoska.com.
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:16 Joshua Robinson
2:16

marc koska:
pleasure
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:16 marc koska
2:17

The Daily Beast:
Join the conversation on Reboot America's Facebook & Twitter!
http://twitter.com/rebootamerica
http://www.facebook.com/rebootamerica
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:17 The Daily Beast
2:18

The Daily Beast:
Thank you to everyone who joined us today. And many thanks to Marc Koska! Stay tuned for more TDB Live Chats in the near future!
Tuesday October 19, 2010 2:18 The Daily Beast
2:19

Taken from The Daily Beast

How to Save a Million Lives

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by Joshua Robinson

A lack of a college degree or any engineering training didn’t stop Marc Koska, a speaker at The Daily Beast’s upcoming Reboot America conference, from seeing a problem—millions dying from reused needles—and doing something about it.

Marc Koska had always wanted to dig up one great idea, one major strategy for helping people in a global way. He didn’t know what it would look like or where it would come from. Like any cloud-headed student or barstool idealist, he just wanted to change the world.

Marc Koska

For the first 23 years of his life, Koska didn’t look around especially hard. The day after he graduated from the prestigious Stowe School in Buckingham, England, already set to forgo college, Koska became a garbage man. Just to pick up some money through the summer, not because of any calling in public sanitation. When he’d had enough of collecting trash, he looked at his options again and thought, “Well, I could go do something normal, which wasn’t really me. Or I could follow my nose and get on a train first.”

He chose the latter. For the next four years, aimless wandering carried him around the world, at times working on yachts and in ski resorts, until it landed him in front of a newspaper article one day in 1984. “It simply said, ‘One day syringes will be a major cause of the spread of HIV,’” he said in a telephone interview from England. “Sadly, that’s come horrifyingly true. Now we have a situation where, potentially, AIDS is spread as much by medical devices and poor practice as anything else.”

Indeed, unsafe injections are as serious as any epidemic in the developing world. According to a 2009 World Health Organization report, some 40 percent of injections worldwide are given with syringes and needles that are being reused without sterilization, causing an estimated 1.3 million deaths every year. HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C are the main offenders. Educating patients to demand new needles is still a critical issue, as is the prevalence of dangerous medical practices—doctors who convince their patients they are breaking out fresh ones by rustling wrappers under their desks or nurses simply following orders.

“We’re told to,” one nurse in Faridabad, India, told the Times of London in 2009. “They tell us to use the syringes sometimes two times, three times, 10 times. I have seen them reused 30 or 40 times.”

“They are accustomed like this,” she added, referring to the doctors at her hospital. “They have practiced this way always, and they will continue. It may be they think if they reuse [syringes] they will save money.”

But the problem does not only stem from the economic interests of health-care providers.

"In developing countries, people go see the doctor and you can't get them out unless you give them an injection," said Dr. Ernest Drucker, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's School of Public Health. He cited a study dating as far back as the 1960s that showed that 80 percent of households in Uganda had a syringe, adding, "They feel like they haven't been treated if they don't get an injection. 'Magic shots,' they call them."

A syringe and needles in an Indian hospital, waiting to be reused

It is with these conditions unfolding throughout the developing world, that the idea Koska had been looking for began to crystallize 26 years ago. And by 1997, it turned into a patent for one of the first auto-disable syringes that also worked for curative injections. The name may sound complicated, but the idea is beautifully simple. How do you make sure people don’t use syringes twice? Make them impossible to refill. The K1, as Koska dubbed it, is equipped with a locking ring in the bottom of the barrel, so that when the plunger is fully depressed it stays there. Trying to pull the plunger back would snap the ring and effectively break the syringe.

The K1 model is not the only auto-disable syringe out there. When he first started working on it, there were more than 250 other patents around, and by the time he registered his, that number had grown to about 1,000. Of those, however, Koska says only about 20 had been made into prototypes and all of them were designed specifically for the small doses used in immunization. His design was also suitable for curative purposes, meaning the K1 could handle a whole range of doses.

Ultimately, it was a low-tech solution in a medical environment that is growing ever more expensive and sophisticated. Koska’s answer wasn’t a revolutionary apparatus, it was a small adjustment to existing technology with potentially massive impact. Not to mention a price tag for the developing world—K1 syringes sell for 5 cents, while many others go for as much as a $1 apiece.

“I always understood that what I was doing when I first came up with the design concept was going backward against the stream of thought,” says Koska. “The 270-odd patents, even 25 years ago, were all more complicated. I realized that none of them were going to get off the ground, because they were over-engineered. And over-engineering costs money to produce. I deliberately went to the simple end of the spectrum.”

Before he could even begin considering a design, Koska had to figure out exactly what he was dealing with. All he had in 1984 was a high-school science background and a newspaper clipping. So he spent over two years traveling, reading, and pestering anyone he could find who knew something about public health and had the technical know-how to help him. “I don’t think I even took any notes,” he says. “I just kept asking questions. I’d end up at the World Health Organization and ask them 20 questions about a trip I’d just taken to Kenya and watching immunization campaigns,” Koska says. “It was very random. But it built up a picture for me.”

Seventeen years after the idea first dawned on him, Koska sold his first syringe.

During that time, his efforts to popularize it did not make him any friends. Rival manufacturers, Koska suspects, were not especially pleased with his crashing the market. His first licensee in the developing world was suddenly and mysteriously bought out by an anonymous party and then bulldozed to the ground. Another factory in India simply failed to sell any. Finally, in late 2001, UNICEF placed an order. And soon after, he saw one of his syringes being used for the first time in Cambodia. (UNICEF has since made it a requirement of its campaigns to only use auto-disable syringes.)

Today, Koska runs Star Syringe, the company that owns his patents, alongside a nonprofit called Safe Point, which he started in 2006 for lobbying and education. His licensees are on the verge of selling their 2 billionth unit. Production is up to about 2 million a day, giving Star Syringe a 1 to 2 percent market share of all the syringes manufactured around the world, auto-disable and standard.

But beyond the worldwide numbers, Koska says that the real effect can be seen in places like the hospital in Tanzania, where the average stay has plummeted from seven days to three.

The only change it made was switching syringes.

Taken from The Daily Beast
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SafePoint's website has been completely redesigned

Hope you like it....

Women take on Kilimanjaro for charity

A WOMAN from Henley is hoping to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to help the health of the country’s people.

Catherine English, of Cromwell Road, and three other women will be raising money for SafePoint, a charity that is trying to start a safe injection healthcare programme by donating two million sterile disposable syringes.

The charity was founded by Marc Koska, who is married to one of the other women taking part and does business with Mrs English’s husband Nick, a Bremont watchmaker.

Mrs English said she jumped at the chance to become involved in the climb later this month when another woman dropped out. She said: “As well as climbing the mountain, we will be visiting schools, orphanages and hospitals to educate children, nurses and teachers in safe and sterile injections.

“Unsafe injections can lead to HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and malaria and the Tanzania campaign aims to ease the burden of these diseases.

“A syringe costs just 7p. The simple message is ‘one injection — one syringe’.”

Mrs English, who has three children, Elodie, three, and twins Euan and Capucine, five, who attend Trinity school in Henley, will be climbing with Anna Koska, Clare Beale and Nicoletta Lacobacci, all from East Sussex. She has been training five or six times a week and meeting the other women once a month to do a big climb or walk.

She said: “We were advised to start working on our upper leg strength, back strength and core stability. We’ve been walking and cycling up hills and generally bulking up our legs.”

The women hope to raise between £10,000 and £20,000 for the K1 syringes, which were invented by Mr Koska.

One way of raising money is by “selling” flags to be taken to the top of the 19,334ft volanic mountain and photographed with the quartet.

To make a donation, visit http://www.justgiving.com/TheClimb-Tanzania2010

Taken from the Henley Standard

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See also "Local charity SafePoint to scale dizzy heights in October"
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Local charity SafePoint to scale dizzy heights in October

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Training hard in the Ashdown Forest

Four brave mums from the Crowborough and Uckfield area are flying out to tackle the daunting challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro this October to raise funds for the SafePoint Trust which is based in the heart of Ashdown Forest.

The SafePoint Trust is a charity set up to tackle the global problem of syringe re-use, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) credits with killing millions of otherwise healthy people each year. Unclean syringes are used repeatedly in surgeries and clinics in developing countries to administer vaccines and medicines. This is either to save costs, or because the doctor is unaware of the severe health implications this practice can have, as dirty needles can quickly and easily pass lethal diseases like Hepatitis and HIV.

The SafePoint Trust has single-handedly saved nearly 10 million lives through campaigning for safe injection practices in countries across the world, including India and Africa.

This climb will raise money to supply single-use needles to Tanzania, and will be attempted by Anna Koska, Clare Beale, Catherine English and Nicoletta Lacobacci. Good luck girls!

To find out more, or to make a gratefully received donation, please click here.

Taken from crowboroughpeople.co.uk, written by Rebecca_H

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See also "Women take on Kilimanjaro for charity"
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Spread the word and forward this film

We make no apologies for immediately asking you to do one small thing upon reading this blog post.

Your support is invaluable in helping us bring to light the devastating consequences that unsafe injection practices can have.

Please take two minutes out of your day and click here (www.lifesaveraction.org) to see the most recent film Marc has made on the issue of injection safety.

Safe Injection Message

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Click here to Comment on this video, and Favourite, Rate and Share it in YouTube

In it, you'll hear how fatal diseases like HIV and Hepatitis are most often spread by unsafe injections and by the everyday actions of heatlhcare workers in millions of under funded clinics in developing countries.

We would ask you please to watch the film, and then forward the link to as many friends and family as you can.

We know from our work over the past 25 years that awareness prompts action.

We're aiming to reach our target of 10 million lives saved this year, and we need your help to do so.

Thank you!

What is LifeSaver?

LifeSaver is a campaign that is inviting all global AD (auto-disable) syringe manufacturers to include the new LifeSaver logo and message "New Packet. Used Once. Safely Disposed" on all their packaging. LifeSaver represents the procedure given by a health worker and received by a patient, and can be simply adopted, free of charge, by any organisation. The logo is distinctive and easily recognized, and will act as a unique guarantee of a safe injection.

For more information, see www.marckoska.com.

Aiming High for Charity

.The Climb Tanzania 2010, as reported in Sussex Life magazine

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July 2010 edition of Sussex Life magazine

(Click on the article to enlarge it)
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Marc Koska Launches LifeSaver

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Philanthropist, Social Entrepreneur and inventor, Marc Koska, OBE, launches the LifeSaver campaign:

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Click here to Comment on this video, and Favourite, Rate and Share it in YouTube

LifeSaver is a campaign that is inviting all global AD (auto-disable) syringe manufacturers to include the new LifeSaver logo and message:

"New Packet. Used Once. Safely Disposed"

on all their packaging. LifeSaver represents the procedure given by a health worker and received by a patient, and can be simply adopted, free of charge, by any organisation. The logo is distinctive and easily recognized, and will act as a unique guarantee of a safe injection.

Marc Koska: "The question to you is simple: Would you want to have an injection with a clean sterile syringe or a used dirty one? Exactly, and so would everyone else! Please send this video link to as many people as you can so that they become aware of this issue. Please help me get millions of hits recorded on YouTube! Thanks!"

LifeSaverAction now also has a Facebook Page (please Like it) and a Facebook Group (please Join it).

For more information, visit http://www.marckoska.com
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Marc Koska: The Man Who Saved 9 Million Lives

Marc Koska, founder of The SafePoint Trust was interviewed for an article entitled 'Marc Koska: The Man Who Saved 9 Million Lives' in the current issue of Peter Gillham's magazine Organic Connections.

The article starts:
"Unique is a good word to describe Marc Koska. 'Since I was a kid, I always wanted to get involved in a large intervention on a big scale,' he told Organic Connections. 'I was always looking for something. If I had lived 200 years ago, I would have wanted to be the guy who killed all the rats in the Black Death. And I started having that drive when I was about six.'

Organic Connections: Marc Koska: The Man Who Saved 9 Million Lives

Unlike many others, Marc never forgot his dream; as a young adult, he was always on the lookout—and one day he stumbled upon it. 'Years went by and I didn’t really settle into anything because I was still waiting for my big moment,' he recounted. 'Then in May 1984, I read a newspaper article that discussed the fact that reused syringes would be a major transmission route for HIV. That was exactly the bit that I was looking for.' Marc was 23 at the time."

To read the full article visit the Organic Connections website.

For more information on Marc, his life and activities, please visit his website at www.marckoska.com.

For further data on Star Syringes, see their website at www.starsyringe.com.

To learn more about SafePoint Trust, visit www.safepointtrust.org.