KARACHI: The management of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) has announced plans to upgrade and improve its waste management processes in order to safely dispose of medical waste. JPMC Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali said a solid waste management plan had been devised for the proper and safe disposal of medical waste in the light of a court order. She informed that in the first phase, which had already begun, the incinerator would be upgraded, while a new incinerator would also be purchased soon as the old incinerator was quite outdated. She said it had been observed that some outsiders were sorting medical wastage and selling it to garbage dealers. Therefore, the hospital administration had requested the Saddar Police Station House Officer to take action, after which two people had been arrested. She said the unsafe disposal of syringes, drips, urine and blood bags, needles, fluids and other used wastage was posing serious healthcare threats to visiting people and environment. Hence a plan had been chalked out for the complete disposal of the hospital waste. Dr Seemin informed that a committee had been formed that comprised a pathologist, nurses, paramedical staff and an Operation Theater Manager to implement solid waste management programme in healthcare. She said committee members would separate infectious waste and non-infectious waste. She added that the basic aim of devising a solid waste management plan was to prevent people from the hazards of medical waste. She also mentioned that closed-circuit cameras would also be installed in the administration block for monitoring purposes.