A haphazard and unhygienic way of disposing medical wastes in the country’s eight city corporations, out of 12, is polluting the land, water and environment in the cities, exposing the city dwellers to different diseases. The dumping of medical wastes in an unhealthy manner in the cities has necessitated the introduction of separate plants to dispose of the wastes.
Sources said a private company has been entrusted with the task of managing the medical wastes of two city corporations of Dhaka and the Narayanganj City Corporation. The medical wastes of these three city corporations are collected and burned in Matuail. However, an NGO-led hospital dumps its wastes at the DNCC landfill in Amin Bazar area, Dhaka, an official said. The Rajshahi City Corporation also has its own system of burning medical wastes.
Eight other city corporations are dumping medical wastes in the garbage dumps. In those cities, more than 25 tonnes of hospital wastes are being dumped in the open garbage dumps daily. The huge amount of hospital wastes being dumped openly is polluting the land, water and environment. Officials working with the 12 city corporation's waste management and sanitation departments revealed the fact.
The improper disposal of the hospital wastes is putting the locals at health risks. Experts are concerned about the lack of professionalism in the management of medical wastes in an environmentally and health conscious manner in the government institutions of the country. Officials affiliated with the hospital waste management said that after surgery, various types of wastes from the human body, including tumors, blood as well as equipment used during operations are discarded.
All of these wastes contain viruses and bacteria that are extremely harmful to the human body. All those viruses and bacteria pollute the water, soil and air. As a result, many pathogens spread to humans. According to experts, it is important to have a separate plant for hospital waste management. But there is no such system in any city other than Rajshahi and Dhaka in Bangladesh. In addition, no accurate information on the amount of hospital waste is also available.
According to sources in Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), there are two dumps in Arefinagar and Halishahar to dispose of wastes. The city produces almost 3 tonnes of hospital wastes every day. Chief Cleaning Officer of CCC Sheikh Shafiqul Mannan Siddiqui said, "We are having a hard time managing the waste produced in Chattogram. Both the landfills are nearly full. There is no proper waste disposal system for hospital wastes in Chattogram. That is why the waste is dumped along with general trash."