Bio Medical Waste disposal guidelines flouted
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, October 16 2014:
Posing a serious health hazard, many of the primary, urban and rural health centers run by the government are not complying laid-out guidelines regarding disposal of bio-medical waste.
Even as Manipur Pollution Control Board had asked all concerned health centers to furnish report on disposal of bio-medical wastes and compliance of Bio-Medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 1998, the same has not been handed over to the board till yet.
On November 29, 2013, the Board had also asked around 600 health care centers including those run by the government to submit report on how bio-medical waste in the respective centers was disposed off during the period from January 1 to December 31, 2013 .
According to Bio-Medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 1998, bio-medical waste produced from hospital, clinic, dispensary, pathological laboratory, blood bank including institutions set up for conducting research work on health should not be mixed with any other polluted substance.
There should be four containers for storing the waste.
Used medical items like syringe, blood-stained cotton and bandage etc should be disposed off accordingly.
The waste cannot be abandoned at any place as there is possibility of spread of communicable disease from the waste materials.
However, many of the health centers with exception of one/two centers in the State do not abide by the rules.
Even methods adopted by Regional Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) in disposing bio-medical waste are in question.
Many newly established private hospitals in the valley have not taken up necessary steps to dispose bio-medical waste safely so far.
In some hill areas, there have been instances where blood-stained bio-medical wastes were found lying on the road.
Such medical waste cannot be buried inside earth.
Disposal process of bio-medical waste should be done after killing bacteria present in the waste accordingly.
The four containers in which bio-medical waste is to be stored come in different colors namely red, blue/white, black and yellow.
The red container is for storing syringe and IV Set used in patients who suffered from communicable diseases.
Blue/white container is for storing glass and bottle.
Black container is for storing blade and medical equipments used in operation while yellow container is for storing human anatomical waste.
Such containers are found used in Shija Hospital and several other health centers.
As for Shija Hospital, the center had already set up modern Common Bio-Medical Waste Center for safety disposal of medical waste materials.
Despite the health hazard posed from the unhealthy disposal of bio-medical waste by health care centers, the Health Directorate has not taken up necessary steps to ensure that such highly hazardous medical waste is disposed off accordingly.