Reusing syringes leads to more than two million people being infected
with diseases including HIV and hepatitis each year.
The new needles are more expensive, but the WHO says the switch would
be cheaper than treating the diseases.
More than 16 billion injections are administered annually.
Normal syringes can be used again and again.
But the smart ones prevent the plunger being pulled back after an
injection or retract the needle so it cannot be used again.
Dr Selma Khamassi, the head of the WHO team for injection safety, told
the BBC News website: "This will hopefully help eliminate the 1.7 million
new hepatitis B cases, the 300,000 hepatitis C cases and the 35,000 HIV cases
every year, and all those we don't have figures for, such as Ebola and
Marburg."
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