Safe Injection Practices Coalition: A Model Public-Private Partnership

Despite today’s demanding and resource-constrained healthcare environment, partnerships between the government and the private sector can promote innovation and amplify our ability to address critical needs. From piloting new strategies to scaling-up existing interventions, public-private partnerships enable us to fight health threats faster and, often, with greater success both at home and abroad.

A current example of the CDC Foundation connecting CDC with the private sector to advance an effective and enduring public health program is the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC) and its One and Only Campaign. Eli Lilly and Company’s (Lilly) partnership with the CDC Foundation has made it possible for CDC to expand its activities that protect patients from unsafe medical injections. Surprisingly, poor injection practices—including reuse of syringes and mishandling of medications and injection equipment—continue to expose thousands of U.S. patients to serious and sometimes life-threatening infectious diseases. This harm is entirely preventable.

Lilly’s financial support has significantly bolstered the reach and impact of SIPC, a network of healthcare-related organizations, patient advocacy groups, and other public health partners that share the common mission of preventing unsafe medical injections. Since Lilly joined the effort in January 2014, SIPC has been successful in expanding its One and Only educational campaign to new audiences and creating new resources to ensure every medical injection is safe. Today, more than 130 organizations, including all 50 U.S. state health departments, have joined the Campaign and pledged to promote injection safety. The Campaign’s efforts have flourished, and the benefits of its outreach are reverberating through the healthcare system. 

We are working to accelerate and maximize efforts by our current network, activate new partnerships, explore further resource development, enhance program information, engage influencers, tailor activities to specific health issues and settings and extend the Campaign’s reach internationally. As SIPC evolves, it provides a public-private partnership template that can be emulated in other healthcare areas.

CDC and the CDC Foundation are grateful for the involvement and support of Lilly, our partners and our stakeholders, and we look forward to broadening the scope and reach of this vital program.

The Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC), a CDC-led network of healthcare-related organizations, patient advocacy groups, and other public health partners, was founded in 2009 with the mission of preventing unsafe medical injections.