RAWALPINDI, May 6: Around 250,000 tons of medical waste which effects the environment is produced by all sorts of health care facilities in the country. This was stated at a national workshop on 'integrated hospital waste management project' held at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) on Thursday.

The speakers agreed that waste management from both hospitals and municipalities was a gigantic problem in Pakistan. The delegates of the conference deliberated upon various social and medical issues arising out of mismanagement of the medical waste.

They stated that information exchanged during the technical sessions will help to set a trend for a campaign across the country. According to a report, about 15 tons of hospital waste is produced daily in Punjab. The rate of generation is 1.18kg per day per bed.

The province houses 250 hospitals with a total capacity of 41,000 beds. Mixing of most of the hospitals waste with municipal solid waste worsens the problem. The toxic waste generates by hospitals includes used syringes, bandages, glucose bottles, blood bags, and other medical instruments.