According to a recent survey, medical personnel are at high risk of exposure to blood-borne diseases caused by needlestick injuries, with around 33,000 occurrences reported in Taiwan annually. A public hearing was held at the Legislative Yuan earlier this month to push the government to mandate the use of safety needles throughout the healthcare system, in providing a safer working environment for hospital employees.

In Taiwan, accidents with needles are commonplace at hospitals and clinics. While these injuries are not life-threatening, they do pose health hazards.

According to a recent study, Taiwan's nurses accidentally prick themselves with needles 33,000 times per year, or once every 15 minutes.

In particular, nurses prick themselves 1,168 times and 59 times per year, respectively, with needles used on Hepatitis B and AIDS patients.

Experts say that many hospitals and clinics care more about keeping costs down than the safety of their staffs, and that only 2.07% of medical institutions in Taiwan applied for safe needles last year.

Representatives from industry, government, and academia called on the government at a public hearing on Friday to implement safe needle policies and provide medical professionals with a safe working environment.

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