HONOReform Foundation

HONOReform (Hepatitis Outbreaks' National Organization for Reform) began as a response to a tragedy. Evelyn McKnight and 98 other cancer patients in rural Fremont, Nebraska, were infected with hepatitis in 2001. The cause? Healthcare providers failed to follow injection safety practices when providing treatment.

Far from an isolated event, the Nebraska outbreak is one of 35 documented outbreaks in non-hospital settings in America between 1998-2008. Patients from all walks of life who were receiving care for multiple conditions in a wide variety of health care settings have been infected with bloodborne pathogens, including HCV (hepatitis C).

HONOReform is working at all levels – from local communities to Capitol Hill – to save lives by ensuring that fundamental injection safety practices are followed each and every time. The HONOReform mission is shaped by a three-pronged commitment to safety:

• Safety by Design through adoption of safe injection devices that are engineered to remove human error;

• Safety by Incentives to spur on faster adoption of infection control guidelines by healthcare professionals and administrators;

• Safety by Education and reeducation of healthcare workers regarding infection control – and empowerment of patients to ask questions and report concerns.

By building safeguards into the injection process, incentivizing health care providers at all levels to universally follow fundamental safety standards, and educating and reeducating providers, all patients will be protected all the time. To achieve this goal, HONOReform works with healthcare stakeholders – including elected leaders, public health officials, patients, providers and industry – to make sure lessons are learned, standard practices are followed and lives are saved.