Disposal of medical waste remains a big concern

We are quite horrified to learn from a Daily Star report published on October 28 that untreated medical wastes are accumulating in the landfills of the country's seven divisional cities—Chattogram, Rajshahi, Barishal, Khulna, Rangpur, Sylhet and Mymensingh—posing serious threat to public health. Upon investigation, our correspondents have found a shocking picture of medical waste mismanagement, from collecting and sorting wastes at hospitals and clinics to dumping at the designated landfills, in all the cities. What is most shocking is that even healthcare professionals have been found to be not following the proper medical waste disposal procedure in the hospitals and clinics. 

Although according to the Medical Waste (Management and Processing) Rules 2008, a divisional authority, comprising the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the city corporations and the Department of Environment, should be there to take care of the issue of medical waste management, no such committee exists in any of the divisional headquarters. And in the absence of such a committee, waste collectors from city corporations or a third party carry the medical waste into the landfills and dump the waste without sterilising it, which is clearly a violation of the rules of 2008, "medical waste cannot be mixed with any other wastes at any stage—while inside hospitals, while being collected, while transporting."

It is common knowledge that such practices are extremely hazardous because when untreated waste mixes with the water, the germs easily spread through waterbodies, eventually contaminating the soil as well as the drinking water supplies. We have all the more reason to worry since all of these landfills in our seven city corporations are situated either on low-lying wetlands or on the banks of rivers, khals and haors. Moreover, since medical wastes can infect through contact with the skin and through inhalation or ingestion, those who collect and sort out the waste are in extreme risk of getting infected with various life-threatening diseases.

Amid such a situation, it is extremely disappointing to learn that the country has only one medical waste treatment plant located in Dhaka. And at a time when safe disposal of medical waste has become a nationwide concern, another Daily Star report reveals that two waste treatment devices imported from Canada at a cost of nearly Tk 17 crore have been sitting idle since 2015 because of bureaucratic tangles and a lack of skilled operators.

Clearly, the mismanagement in medical waste management is huge and it needs to be addressed with due urgency. In addition, the existing law needs to be enforced and, if needed, amended to develop a proper medical waste management system in the country.