Medical waste in metropolis being disposed of unsafely, with most of it being thrown away with normal garbage and being sold as well; the appropriate disposal of medical waste has been a challenging matter since a long time.
Daily Times learnt that in very few hospitals, medical waste is recycled by an organized way and being handed over to waste management companies but in so many hospitals it is being sold through sanitary workers and other management staff; as many hospitals have no standard procedures to treat the waste.
It was learnt that the Sindh Health Department and Sindh Environmental Protection Agency have failed to tackle the situation and could not stop to the practice of burning and selling medical waste of private and government hospitals.
According to sources there are about forty to forty-five waste handlers working in the city, allegedly SEPA is receiving Rs. 5 to 10 lakhs from them and giving them one year NOC to collect medical waste. These waste handlers pick up any type of hazardous and non-lethal waste from hospitals and transport it to any company, it is now up to them that they deliver this waste to a company for incineration or dump it anywhere or sell to any junk shop or warehouse from where medical waste is being sold to plastic manufactures on good price.
On the other hand, the number of waste management companies which incinerate the hospital waste is very limited if a hospital gives medical waste to a waste management company so hospital has to pay Rs 18 to 20 per kg on other hand if hospital sales the plastic medical waste to vendor so they get Rs 60 to 70 per kg.
According to experts Medical waste is one of the most dangerous forms of waste, especially if it is untreated before disposal. Medical waste facilities process many types of waste from hospitals including consumable items such as used gloves, urine bags, blood bottles, drips, protective gear and of course biological waste. These items are often light, but bulky.
As per The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association (JPMA) it was estimated that out of 8000 tons of refuse generated every day, 0.5 percent is health care waste, generated by over 400 hospitals, clinics and laboratories in Karachi. According to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) study on hospital waste, 20% of health care waste generated every day in the city is infectious waste.
Hospital waste comprised of 15-20% of general waste but due to the improper collection and segregation there is mixing of the hospital waste with general waste and leads to serious threats to human health.
It was also observed during survey that thousands of surgeries are being performed in metropolis hospitals on a daily basis, generating a massive amount of medical waste which includes human waste, needles, syringes, surgical blades, blood bags and bodily fluids, which can lead to the transmission of deadly diseases, such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, specially hepatitis B, hepatitis C, tetanus and HIV if not disposed of properly. It was learnt that only big hospitals were disposing off it properly and they were separating objects by using colored containers while rest of the hospitals were not using any color coding system for the separation of sharps which is the main source of infections and communicable diseases. The practice of reusing syringes in hospitals and clinics is also on the rise.
According to the guidelines issued under Section 6(1) of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014 (SEPA Act 14), every hospital owner, occupier and the operator shall be responsible for the management of the hospital waste till its final disposal in accordance with the provision of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014 and its subsequent Hospital Waste Management Rules 2014.
Director General (DG) Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Naeem Ahmad Mughal denied all allegation of taking bribe from private hospitals. In addition, he told that the SEPA team keeps conducting operations in different hospitals of metropolis.
Mughal told that the plan for the installation and operation of subject incinerators in various hospitals of the referred district was being speedily examined to assess their environmental implications. With the financial support of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the managerial supervision of the Department of Health Sindh.
Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Sindh President Dr. Mirza Ali Azhar disclosed that “I have myself experienced and came across of used syringe during practice”, adding that chances of used syringes cannot be denied.
Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Executive Director Dr. Seemin Jamali assured that even though the waste is being handled in a regular manner, it is disposed of properly.
Jamali told that the hospital has an incinerator and a steriliser for the scientific disposal of patients’ medical waste, where they can safely dispose of medical waste at temperatures above 100 degrees.
Experts expressed their displeasure over the lack of sanitation and conventionally burning its medical waste despite of having incinerators.