Biomedical waste

EVEN ordinary waste strewn around carelessly is bad for health. When biomedical waste is thrown along with municipal solid waste, it can kill. Yet, that is exactly what many of the hospitals of Punjab have been doing. When the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) conducted surprise checks at 108 hospitals and health care facilities across the state on Sunday, 20 hospitals were found to be violating waste disposal rules. Among them were eight government hospitals and 12 private hospitals. Being conscious of the fact that biomedical waste can play havoc with the health of thousands of people, the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, are very stringent and ordain that all hospitals and health centres segregate biomedical waste into different containers and bags according to colour code. These containers are to be transported from the premises of the Common-Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility located at Mohali, Ludhiana, Pathankot, Amritsar and Bathinda.

However, the rules are merrily ignored even by reputed hospitals. They either dump their waste – comprising solids, liquids, sharps and laboratory waste — along with municipal solid waste or throw it away in an unhygienic manner, unmindful of the fact that this is infectious and can pollute the entire locality. It is dangerous for humans as well as the environment. The PPCB has been running a sustained campaign for the past one year against this menace. If the practice still continues, it only shows that some people are incorrigible and will not mend their ways till harsh punishment is meted out to them.
It is necessary to keep a close watch on the various biomedical waste facilities because they too are known to be cutting corners at times. While taking action against the erring institutions, the authorities should also focus on the hygiene within the hospitals. If they can be so callous about waste disposal, they might be equally uncaring about the hygiene on the hospital premises. The cases of hospital-induced infections are not uncommon.