Medical waste continues to pose serious health hazards to Rajshahi city residents, as most hospitals, clinics and pathology labs dump waste into public bins.
Medical waste requires specialised treatment and proper safe disposal to prevent viruses from spreading over neighbouring areas.
According to the Rajshahi Civil Surgeon’s Office, there are about 45 approved private clinics and hospitals, and 41 pathology laboratories in and around the city.
As the clinics, hospitals, and pathology centres do not have their own waste disposal system, the large amount of waste they produce is dumped into Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) dustbins, thereby threatening public health.
Clinics and pathology centres produce different infectious waste such as blood, bandages, cottons, sponges, swabs, plaster, catheters, blood transfusion bags and tubes, blood-infected saline sets, gore, infected dresses and syringes of diarrhoea patients.
This type of medical waste needs a proper disposal mechanism so that viruses do not spread over the environment, said Mizanur Rahman, acting deputy director of the Department of Environment of Rajshahi.
He said: “Each and every clinic or pathology centre is a serious environment polluting establishment like a brick kiln.”
The medical institution also produces awful waste such as human bodies, cut-off limbs, tissue, tumors, placentas or pregnancy-related waste and different radioactive isotopes, all waste contaminated by radioactive material, unused machinery materials etc which are easily infectious.
“As non-disposed infectious waste is being dumped in open dustbins, it is polluting the air of the environment, and causing serious health hazards to nearby residents,” Mizanur said.
As per Medical Waste (Management and Processing) Rules, 2008, clinics and pathology centres must have their own waste management system to get environmental clearance, and without it no private clinic, hospital or pathology centre is supposed to be approved or registered.
The law to take action against the environmentally polluting medical institutions is merely on book, but the authorities concerned have taken no initiatives in this regard at all, said Jahid Hossain, a student of Rajshahi Medical College.
At the same time, the medical waste management system of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital has also broken down as its incinerator has long been damaged.
Director General of RMCH AKM Nasir Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune that responsibility for the maintenance and repair of the incinerator goes to Rajshahi City Corporation.
However, Chief Executive Officer of RCC Azhar Ali said that the work to repair the RMCH incinerator would begin soon.
Azhar also confirmed that all medical waste of the city are dumped at RCC’s dustbins.