Sharps Compliance Corphas launched an essay contest for students in healthcare and related studies. Winners will be awarded a first ($1,500), second ($1,000) or third ($500) prize scholarship for the best essays submitted.

Restricted to US or Canadian citizens, the competition is intended to focus attention on the risks of accidental needle-stick injuries occurring outside hospital and healthcare settings. These are a significant problem in the US witheach year a significant number of people contract a life-altering disease as a result of being stuck by a needle/syringe that was improperly disposed of outside of the healthcare setting.

Entrants are asked to researchreal-life events in which someone was stuck by a used needle/syringe outside of the healthcare setting, and describe the measures that could have been taken to prevent that needle-stick and future needle-stick injuries.

No doubt as much a marketing exercise as a philanthropic or solely educational endeavor, this is nonetheless a great idea and one that deserves wide praise and considerable success.