In a gross violation of hospital waste management rules, public hospitals and scores of private clinics have been playing a major role in defiling the environment of the provincial metropolitan, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) recently tasked the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) to conduct an enquiry into the hospitals violating the waste management rules. The environment wing of the CDGL found that major public hospitals, Mayo Hospital, Lady Willingdon and Lady Atchison and 43 private clinics in the city were involved in violation of the rules.
According to the hospital waste management rules, every hospital was supposed to have a specific dumping site as well as incinerators. The officials involved in the probe revealed that lack of arrangements for disposal of solid waste in private and government hospitals and clinics was posing serious health hazards.
Most private health care practitioners disposed of their syringes, disposable scalpels and blades like normal municipal waste, the probe said.
The major sources of healthcare waste were cited to be hospitals and other healthcare establishments such as laboratories and research centers, mortuary and autopsy centers, blood banks and collection services and nursing homes.
Waste and by-products could also cause poisoning and pollution whether through the release of pharmaceutical products, in particular antibiotics and toxic drugs, through the wastewater or by toxic elements or compounds such as mercury, it was found.
According to the District Officer (DO) Muhammad Younas, “We are initiating legal action against hospitals and hazardous hospital waste recycling units if not complying with the provisions of Hospital Waste Management (HWM) rules, 2005”
According to health experts, occupational risks may be associated with the operation of certain disposal facilities.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Lady Willingdon Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Muhammad Afzal said they were following the guidelines issued by the government and had received no notification in this regard so far.
However, the CDGL inspector confirmed that these hospitals were involved in violations, while the probe results had also been forwarded to the EPA for necessary legal action.
