02:43
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LAHORE
Most of the public and private hospitals in Lahore are involved in selling their highly contaminated waste to the recycling factories instead of properly disposing it of. These factories use the hospital waste for manufacturing plastic goods used as household items.
Moreover, the factories are also involved in selling the highly contaminated and infectious hospital waste, including sharp needles, syringes, plastic bags, radioactive waste and pharmaceutical waste, back to medical stores with new labels and packing after just washing it with chemicals, The News has learnt through official sources.
It is learnt through official documents that the Punjab Health Department and medical units in Lahore are only incinerating 5,500kg hospital waste daily out of total 15,000kg produced on a daily basis. The rest of the hospital waste is being allegedly sold to the units which recycle it.
A survey, conducted by The News, has revealed that there are around 3,300 private and government healthcare units in the provincial metropolis which are producing 15,000 kg hospital waste daily. Presently, there are seven incinerators installed in the City hospitals, including one in Shalimar Hospital and two in Children’s Hospital, while the other four are in private hospitals. As per the survey, out of 15,000kg hospital waste, only 5,500kg is being incinerated in Shalimar Hospital and four private hospitals. Two incinerators in the Children’s Hospital and one in a private hospital are out of order for the past many months due to which the rest of the waste is being allegedly sold to plastic recycling units.
It is pertinent to mention here that the capacity of all the incinerators, including those out of order, is not enough to incinerate the 15,000kg hospital waste produced on a daily basis. If all these incinerators work simultaneously, even then they can only incinerate half of the hospital waste, sources have told The News.
The total capacity of all the seven incinerators is 10,500kg. Shalimar Hospital incinerator’s capacity is 2,500kg, Children’s Hospital’s 3,000 kg and 5,000kg of all four private hospitals.
Sources have further added that almost 75 percent of the hospital waste is being sold in Bund Road plastic recycling market both by the private and government hospitals.
The Hospital Waste Management (HWM) Rules of Environment Act (PEPA) specify procedures for the safe disposal of medical waste such as syringes, blood bags, tubes, etc.
The unhygienic practice has been going on for the last many years in absence of appropriate laws to stop selling hospital waste. The medical superintendents (MS) and heads of hospitals are heading the committees of the HWM rules but not even a single inquiry or any practical action has been taken by them in the past many years. A senior officer of district government health department told The News that officials in the most of the public and private hospitals were involved in selling infected hospital plastic waste forthe past many years. He claimed that the government hospitals were compiling their false records and they had never mentioned the exact ratio of their hospital waste produced on a daily basis. Besides, only 10 percent of total hospital waste was being incinerated in government hospitals while remaining 80 percent was being sold to plastic recycling units, he said, adding that despite action taken by the Environment Protection Department (EPD) in the recent years, under its Hospital Waste Management Rules 2005, no significant improvement for proper disposal of hospital waster had been observed.
Jinnah Hospital, Children’s Hospital, General Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital and two private hospitals had been fined up to Rs500,000 under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA) for violating the Hospital Waste Management Rules of 2005 but despite that the rules were still violated by these hospitals, the officer said.
Total 47 hospitals were reported for violations and then fined by the Punjab Environmental Tribunal up to Rs 1,500,000 during the last five years but a large number of cases were still pending with the tribunal, he added.
Besides two main markets, hospital waste is being sold in a few small local markets.
Talking to The News, Special Assistant to CM on Health Kh Salman Rafique expressed complete ignorance of the hospital waste being generated by public and private hospitals and claimed that he was mulling over conducting a study on it. He claimed that he was already stuck in other serious health issues but nevertheless he would look into the matter as well. He claimed that he would first conduct a study on the hospital waster and then initiate action against the responsible.
Most of the public and private hospitals in Lahore are involved in selling their highly contaminated waste to the recycling factories instead of properly disposing it of. These factories use the hospital waste for manufacturing plastic goods used as household items.
Moreover, the factories are also involved in selling the highly contaminated and infectious hospital waste, including sharp needles, syringes, plastic bags, radioactive waste and pharmaceutical waste, back to medical stores with new labels and packing after just washing it with chemicals, The News has learnt through official sources.
It is learnt through official documents that the Punjab Health Department and medical units in Lahore are only incinerating 5,500kg hospital waste daily out of total 15,000kg produced on a daily basis. The rest of the hospital waste is being allegedly sold to the units which recycle it.
A survey, conducted by The News, has revealed that there are around 3,300 private and government healthcare units in the provincial metropolis which are producing 15,000 kg hospital waste daily. Presently, there are seven incinerators installed in the City hospitals, including one in Shalimar Hospital and two in Children’s Hospital, while the other four are in private hospitals. As per the survey, out of 15,000kg hospital waste, only 5,500kg is being incinerated in Shalimar Hospital and four private hospitals. Two incinerators in the Children’s Hospital and one in a private hospital are out of order for the past many months due to which the rest of the waste is being allegedly sold to plastic recycling units.
It is pertinent to mention here that the capacity of all the incinerators, including those out of order, is not enough to incinerate the 15,000kg hospital waste produced on a daily basis. If all these incinerators work simultaneously, even then they can only incinerate half of the hospital waste, sources have told The News.
The total capacity of all the seven incinerators is 10,500kg. Shalimar Hospital incinerator’s capacity is 2,500kg, Children’s Hospital’s 3,000 kg and 5,000kg of all four private hospitals.
Sources have further added that almost 75 percent of the hospital waste is being sold in Bund Road plastic recycling market both by the private and government hospitals.
The Hospital Waste Management (HWM) Rules of Environment Act (PEPA) specify procedures for the safe disposal of medical waste such as syringes, blood bags, tubes, etc.
The unhygienic practice has been going on for the last many years in absence of appropriate laws to stop selling hospital waste. The medical superintendents (MS) and heads of hospitals are heading the committees of the HWM rules but not even a single inquiry or any practical action has been taken by them in the past many years. A senior officer of district government health department told The News that officials in the most of the public and private hospitals were involved in selling infected hospital plastic waste forthe past many years. He claimed that the government hospitals were compiling their false records and they had never mentioned the exact ratio of their hospital waste produced on a daily basis. Besides, only 10 percent of total hospital waste was being incinerated in government hospitals while remaining 80 percent was being sold to plastic recycling units, he said, adding that despite action taken by the Environment Protection Department (EPD) in the recent years, under its Hospital Waste Management Rules 2005, no significant improvement for proper disposal of hospital waster had been observed.
Jinnah Hospital, Children’s Hospital, General Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital and two private hospitals had been fined up to Rs500,000 under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA) for violating the Hospital Waste Management Rules of 2005 but despite that the rules were still violated by these hospitals, the officer said.
Total 47 hospitals were reported for violations and then fined by the Punjab Environmental Tribunal up to Rs 1,500,000 during the last five years but a large number of cases were still pending with the tribunal, he added.
Besides two main markets, hospital waste is being sold in a few small local markets.
Talking to The News, Special Assistant to CM on Health Kh Salman Rafique expressed complete ignorance of the hospital waste being generated by public and private hospitals and claimed that he was mulling over conducting a study on it. He claimed that he was already stuck in other serious health issues but nevertheless he would look into the matter as well. He claimed that he would first conduct a study on the hospital waster and then initiate action against the responsible.
Posted in: Lahore
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