State hospitals poor at handling biomedical waste, says study

  • | Tuesday | 21st March, 2017

It discovered that 52% of the hospitals have their yellow containers distinctly marked as containing bio-hazard waste.Seventy-nine percent of hospitals transport their waste in open containers, which increases the risk of spreading infection. He added, "The State Pollution Control Board needs to be more proactive and create awareness about waste disposal. The CSC carried out its study in 19 hospitals in Ranchi and Dhanbad with a combined capacity of 3,486 beds.Nivit Kumar Yadav of CSE said most private hospitals did not have technical information about waste disposal. "The CSE found 42% of the hospitals not following even the basic segregation guideline. He added, "The reason for this is 15% to 20 % of waste generated in hospitals is toxic and needs to be treated and mixing it with the remaining 80% increases the pool of infected waste and the chances of infection.

Ranchi: Government and private hospitals in the state have not been fully following the norms of handling and disposing bio-medical waste , according to a study conducted by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).In its report, the CSE, a public policy and advocacy organization, about 40% of the biomedical waste generated in the state is dumped untreated as against the national average of 7%.The report, simultaneously released here and in New Delhi on Monday, asked the State Pollution Control Board and the state health department to pay attention to the norms laid under Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016. The CSC carried out its study in 19 hospitals in Ranchi and Dhanbad with a combined capacity of 3,486 beds.Nivit Kumar Yadav of CSE said most private hospitals did not have technical information about waste disposal. He added, "The State Pollution Control Board needs to be more proactive and create awareness about waste disposal."Hemanth S, also from CSE, said "The waste management rules state that waste should be segregated in four containers: yellow containers for infected body parts, blood-soaked cotton, gauges and bandages, red containers for intravenous tubing, saline bottles, catheters, syringes and gloves, puncture-proof containers for sharp wastes and cardboard boxes for glassware and metallic body implants." He added, "The reason for this is 15% to 20 % of waste generated in hospitals is toxic and needs to be treated and mixing it with the remaining 80% increases the pool of infected waste and the chances of infection."The CSE found 42% of the hospitals not following even the basic segregation guideline. It discovered that 52% of the hospitals have their yellow containers distinctly marked as containing bio-hazard waste.Seventy-nine percent of hospitals transport their waste in open containers, which increases the risk of spreading infection.

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