Despite the fact many people would imagine something extravagate and expensive, when hearing the word “design”, real design thinking is not about this, we believe. Sometimes we hear, why designing things if everything is already made?

Well this time we would like to introduce to you the story of Marc Koska and his reasons to re-invent the syringe. Reuse of syringes, all too common in under-funded clinics, kills 1.3 million each year. Many of them kids. In 1984 Koska read a newspaper article predicting the transmission of HIV through the reuse of needles and syringes. Koska was fascinated by the problem and vowed to do something about it. He studied how drug addicts used syringes in the UK, went to Geneva to learn about Public Health Policy, visited several syringe factories, studied plastic injection moulding, and read everything available on the transmission of viruses like HIV.

After a year of intense study, he concluded that syringe manufacture was the key to the problem. Koska designed a syringe (K1) that could be made on existing equipment with a small modification. It was made from the same materials and could be used in the same way as a normal syringe so that healthcare professionals would not have to retrain. K1 syringes cannot be used again so the next patient will also have a sterile and safe injection. He shares his solution: a low-cost syringe that can’t be used twice.

Watch the fascinating movie about how design saves lives at ted.com