NCC and the govt hospitals must come to an understanding

We are shocked to learn about the complete apathy of the two government hospitals in Narayanganj in treating their medical waste. According to a report by The Daily Star on February 8, two major government hospitals in the city, which do not have their own incineration facility to treat the clinical waste, are also not willing to take the service from an NGO that is providing it. While the hospitals' authorities claim that it is the Narayanganj City Corporation's (NCC) responsibility to collect the waste from their premises since the hospitals pay tax to the NCC, according to the NCC sources, collecting medical waste from the hospitals does not fall under their jurisdiction. Amid such disagreement between the NCC and the hospital authorities, piles of garbage–medical and regular–remain dumped at the hospital premises with no one bothering to solve the problem. During a recent visit to the hospitals, our correspondent found all sorts of waste–bandages, used medicine bottles, syringes, etc.­­–left scattered on and outside the hospital compounds.

According to NCC sources, there are around 107 healthcare facilities in Narayanganj, including the two government ones. But surprisingly, only the private clinics have agreements with PRISM Bangladesh Foundation–the only private organisation in the city that collects and incinerates medical waste. Such blatant disregard for the environment and public health by these two public hospitals is incomprehensible.

We think, as long as the hospitals do not have their own mechanism to treat the clinical waste, it would be wise for them to come to an agreement with the organisation that takes care of the issue of medical waste in the city. However, the NCC cannot shrug off its responsibility, given the fact that it has earned a bad reputation in keeping the city clean. Thus, it must come to an understanding with the two government hospitals on how to handle the issue professionally. Also, rather than solely depending on private initiatives to treat all the medical waste produced in the city, the NCC should consider setting up its own incineration plant which could surely give a cost-effective service to the hospitals and clinics in the city.