It is startling to note that around 60 percent of hospitals do not have bins to store medical waste, while 83 percent of hospitals have no waste treatment system. Experts are of the opinion that if medical wastes are not treated properly, germs and virus can enter the food cycle through soil and water. Needles to say, this could lead to catastrophic disasters.
Mismanagement of the infectious hospital waste may lead to transmission of diseases like typhoid, cholera, hepatitis and AIDS. It is said that medical waste must be burnt under controlled environments at more than 700 degree Celsius, and the flue gas should be released into the environment after filtering harmful particles.
But since we have not been able to develop our medical waste management systems up to this point, we have to treat our medical wastes very carefully with whatever limited resources we have. No doubt more resources and public awareness are urgently needed to ensure proper treatment of infectious medical waste.
The government should devise necessary measures to manage medical waste more efficiently. The two city corporations need to build infrastructure and deploy adequate manpower to manage medical wastes.
More resources
and public awareness
are urgently needed to ensure
proper treatment of infectious
medical waste
Hospitals and clinics also have a responsibility and they should not throw waste here and there. They should develop proper infrastructure and train their staff on how to handle medical wastes properly.
Dhaka’s waste management system has seen no remarkable improvement over the past years. One does not need to be an expert to understand Dhaka’s poor waste management system that has been deteriorating the environment of this teeming capital over the years. Haphazard waste dumping under open sky is a contemptible image of Dhaka’s filthiness, and efficient waste management has been a challenging task for Dhaka City Corporation authorities.
With increasing rate of population the waste generation rate of the capital is also increasing at a
startling rate. In order to deal with the increasing waste generation rate, a strategic, holistic and sustainable waste management practice should be reinforced in no time.
