KARACHI, April 24: The Minister of State for Environment, Malik Amin Aslam, has said that the government is considering stern action against the private hospitals which are not following the standards pertaining to medical waste disposal. “If needed, the government could go for striking down from its panels the private hospitals which are ignoring the guidelines and rules pertaining to safe disposal of medical waste,” he declared.
The minister was speaking at the concluding ceremony of a national workshop on Hospital waste management project held at the Pakistan Naval Engineering College here on Saturday.
“It is deplorable that many hospitals, by ignoring these standards, are turning out to be sources of diseases. This is a serious issue which needs to be addressed through urgent steps, including introduction and even-handed implementation of the relevant rules.”
Mr Malik said that in addition to developing a training manual for health personnel, the government also intended to include healthcare waste management practices in the syllabi of medical education. He said that waste management needed an integrated approach and in this regard public and private sectors were required to play as partners.
He said that while the draft rules for hospital waste management were ready for approval and implementation by the federal government, it was heartening to note that the Sindh government and its environmental protection agency had taken the lead in adopting a set of guidelines and introducing the same in hospitals.
He noted that many of public sector hospitals and health care units were also not up to the mark in regard to waste disposal and, as such, they too should be taken to task.
Later, talking to media men, Malik Amin said that government was working on a plan aimed at pollution-free air in urban areas. Under the plan, rickshaws and the vehicles having two-stroke engine would be phased out whereas use of CNG in public transport vehicles would be declared mandatory.
He said that the existing system of vehicular examination and issuance of fitness certificate would also be improved and private sector would be invited to establish laboratories for vehicle-testing. The plan has been sent to provinces for comments and inputs, he said, adding that as soon as the same were received, the national plan for better environment would be implemented in the country.
In reply to a question about the non functioning of the Environmental Protection Tribunal at Karachi, he said that the ministry of environment had drawn attention of the ministry of law on the subject as it felt that establishment and operation of tribunals, courts, etc., were necessary for providing support to environmental agencies and organizations.
The Deputy Secretary, Environment and Alternative Energy, Sindh, Dr Iqbal Saeed Khan, told the workshop that the safe-handling procedures were dependent upon effectiveness of segregation procedures which the hospital administration should try to maintain.
“In our hospitals, sanitary workers and paramedics are mostly unskilled and untrained,” he observed. He also suggested that every health facility should be registered with the provincial health department whereas proper monitoring and audit of hospital waste management system should be carried out by hospital managements at city, district and provincial levels.
Dr Khan stressed the need for providing adequate funds to public sector hospitals for setting up their waste treatment facility. The standards prescribed by the WHO for safe disposal should be followed by all public and private health care establishments, including laboratories, he added.
General Manger Saeed Kazmi and Programme Manager S. M. Saheeh of Nust Consulting also spoke on the occasion.
Doctors, nurses, paramedics and sanitary workers from 20 hospitals of Karachi and Hyderabad participated in the six-day workshop.
