Be Blood Aware
HIV and hepatitis C can both be acquired through unsterile tattooing or body piercing practices and also through sharing injecting equipment.
If tattooing and body piercing are not carried out under sterile conditions there is a risk of transmission taking place. Although single-use needles are now common, dye and dye tubs (inkpots) may sometimes be re-used for multiple customers. Anyone considering a piercing or a tattoo should make sure that their tattoo artist or body-piercer adopts infection control procedures, which means using single-use disposable needles, dye tubs, surgical gloves, and so on. Customers have the right to ask the practitioner about their use of standard infection control procedures and their understanding of why these procedures are important. Practitioners are obliged by law to apply infection control procedures.
If people choose to use drugs there are alternatives, such as ingestion, to injecting. If people are going to inject drugs, they should never share injecting equipment. Following a few safety guidelines will reduce the possibility of the transmission of blood borne viruses such as HIV and hep C.
Treat ALL blood as though it were infected and infectious!