Medeco wins Dh14m Unicef deal to supply disposable syringes

The Abu Dhabi Medical Devices Co (Medeco), a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Industrial Projects Co, is rolling out expansion plans after winning a contract from Unicef to supply auto disable (AD) syringes.

Medeco was awarded a contract by Unicef to supply AD syringes worth Dh14 million for this year and next. The first shipment under this contract was sent to Unicef in July. Auto Disable syringes are disposable syringes.

"Once this contract expires, Unicef will put out a new international tender and we will bid. We plan to add one more machine next year to double production capacity of the AD syringes," said Mohammad Zeraie, general manager of Medeco.

"Worldwide, there's a growing demand for AD syringes as well as standard syringes," he told Gulf News yesterday.

Medeco is the first company in the region to manufacture AD syringes for immunisation and vaccination and one of the few companies to have the technology to produce such syringes. The company has collaborated with Germany's Pharmaplan GmbH.

"We acquired the right to produce and market this type of AD syringes worldwide and our syringes have patent registration in Europe and the US."

Zeraie said the company produces 150 million standard syringes and 60 million AD syringes a year. More than 80 per cent of the standard syringes are exported to different markets.

"Our biggest markets for standard syringes are Iraq followed by Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan and Jordan. About 20 per cent of the standard syringes go into the local market," he said.

Medeco was established in 1999 and production of standard syringes began in 2000. In 2002, phase two production of the AD syringes began with patented technology and the first prototypes came out early last year.

"After tests and approvals by the WHO, we bid for the Unicef tender and secured the award in January 2004."

Zeraie said that according to WHO reports, the re-use of medical syringes is one of the main causes of most hepatitis B, C and HIV cases.

"Unicef has made the right decision to choose AD syringes for their immunisation programme, which will eliminate the habit of re-using syringes."