EPA drive against unsafe disposal of hospital waste

LAHORE
FOLLOWING repeated violations of the Hospital Waste Management Rules by majority of hospitals and pathological laboratories, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Punjab has started preparing its strength to launch a massive operation across the province.
The massive operation comprises both legal and administrative actions against hospitals and pathological laboratories, which will not follow the HWMR, sources at the EPA revealed. They said the agency had directed both District Officer(s) Health and Environment across the province to provide specific data to the agency after which it would design its way of action.
Sources said in his letter written on January 19, 2015 to all the DOs of Health and Environment, Director General EPA Farooq Hameed has directed them to furnish the following details to the agency within the next ten days.
As per details, he asked them to furnish total number of hospitals (private and public), clinics and pathological laboratories, total number (private and public) of incinerators and autoclaves along with their total capacity.
The details should also include that whether wet scrubbers are installed on incinerators or not and what will be the total quantity of risk waste and the amount which is being disposed of through incinerators.
The DG EPA also asked the DOs to give details about their respective district about the implementation of Hospital Waste Management Rules. They should also inform the DG EPA that how many hospitals have waste management teams and how radioactive waste of hospitals is being disposed of.
Sources said after compilation of this district-wise data, the Environment Protection Department (EPD) will initiate legal and administrative action against violators.
Sources claimed that the department would issue Environmental Protection Orders (EPO) to hospitals, clinics and labs after which the case would be sent to the Environmental Tribunal.
Sources revealed that the department had already served over 900 EPOs to various private and public hospitals while cases of over 750 private and public hospitals were pending in the tribunal. Sources further revealed that in the past the environment department had repeatedly contacted the Health Department for the implementation of the HWMR across the province and making a special cell but so far the Health Department had not created any special cell to deal with this vital issue.
Shahid Bhatti, an environmentalist, said every hospital (public or private) should have its own modern incinerator or autoclave which could maintain 1100 C.
He said the incinerator/autoclave should have wet scrubber installed on it because in the absence of wet scrubbers the incinerator/autoclave would produce very harmful and dangerous fumes which could harm life and environment badly. He suggested the Punjab government to declare the construction of an incinerator/autoclave mandatory in every hospital irrespective of its size and location. He said the hospital waste posed serious threat to the health of citizens and if infectious waste was not destroyed properly, it would cause many fatal diseases like Hepatitis and AIDS. He said the hospital waste also caused skin, respiratory and eye diseases.
Naseemur Rehman, Director EIA EPD, said the department was serious in controlling this issue. He said the upcoming campaign was planned on the directions of Provincial Secretary EPD Dr Iqbal. He said all the hospitals, clinics and labs were bound to comply with the Hospital Waste Management Rules and indiscriminate action would be taken against violators.