CHAKWAL: The district administration has sanctioned Rs400,000 for repair of an incinerator at Chakwal district headquarters hospital (DHQ) which has been lying dysfunctional since its installation some seven years ago, Dawn has learnt.

Now the health department is looking for a technical team who could undertake the repair work.

In 2007 under Hepatitis Control Programme, the then federal government decided to provide incinerators to selected districts of the country so that the hazardous hospital waste could be disposed of adequately.

Being a close political aide of the then chief minister of Punjab Chauhdry Pervez Elahi and dictator Pervez Musharraf, Chakwal’s district nazim Sardar Ghulam Abbas managed to get an incinerator for Chakwal hosptal.

The seventeen incinerators given to Punjab cost the public exchequer Rs59.5 million and the price of each incinerator was Rs3.5 million.

The incinerator was first installed on the premises of DHQ hospital but later moved to nearby village called Dub and was installed at the Basic Health Unit Dub.

Ironically the incinerator was to be run on gas but there was no gas connection at the site. The authorities tried to run it on twigs but due to some fault it started producing hazardous smoke which invited the wrath of the villagers and authorities were forced to switch it off. Since 2007 it has been rusting at the site.

A vehicle was also provided with incinerator which was to be used for transporting the waste to the incinerator but the vehicle is also rusting under the open as it neither has any driver nor fuel to run.

It is pertinent to mention here that according to Hospital Waste Management Rules 2005 introduced by the then Federal Government under section 31 of Pakistan Environmental Act 1997, every hospital is responsible for the proper management of the waste generated by it till its final disposal.

The law also orders the head of the hospital to constitute a Waste Management Team at the hospital.

There are roundabout 80 health units working in Chakwal district which include four public hospitals 47 basic health units, eight rural health centres and 80 private hospitals and clinics while as many as 40 laboratories are operating in the district.

None of these institutions has a single incinerator to dispose of the hazardous waste.

The sole incinerator which was meant for disposing of the waste of all health units of the district remains switched off even after seven years of its installation.

The management of the DHQ hospital dumps the hazardous waste on the premises of the hospital and try to burn it which is a risky business for public health.

When contacted, Medical Superintendent of DHQ Hospital Chakwal, Dr. Ahsan Naveed said that he was trying his best to make the incinerator functional.

“I have been posted recently and since my posting I'm trying my best to address this issue,” he maintained. He confirmed that the incinerator needed repair and tender for this purpose has been issued but nobody took any interest yet.