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, according to a study conducted by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). Reportedly, TIB collected data from 231 public and private hospitals, city corporations, municipalities and contractor organisations, and interviewed 93 persons involved in medical waste management from June 2021 to November 2022.
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. 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.
The
government should devise
necessary measures to manage
medical
waste more efficiently
Experts opine that if medical wastes are not treated properly, germs and virus can enter the food cycle through soil and water. This could lead to catastrophic disasters. 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.
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.
