By Chun Sophal
The Mekong Times
The Phnom Penh Municipality yesterday warned that potentially dangerous viral epidemics could break out if the city’s medical waste management is not tightened up.
“[We must] be careful because of possible virus outbreaks … if medical waste is not properly managed or [disposed of],” Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatevong told The Mekong Times after a workshop on the management of medical waste in Phnom Penh yesterday.
“[Human] health problems are partially caused by medical waste which is invisible to the naked eye,” said the deputy governor, citing high-blood pressure and cancers as prominent diseases being faced by city dwellers in Cambodia. “We must realize that environmental pollution and the transmission of viruses have no limits. So, if it occurs, it will cause a massive impact [on people]. We will establish a medical waste management system to protect the environment and public health in the city.”
Phnom Penh covers over 700 square kilometers, with over 1.3 million people discarding a total of more than 1,000 tons of rubbish a day, 70 percent of which is contaminated with medical waste.
A study conducted by the Municipal Health Department of Phnom Penh discovered 1,200 hospitals and clinics in Phnom Penh discarding a total of more than 1.5 tons of medical waste each day into other refuse at the city’s main Stung Meanchey rubbish dump.
Mold Nasir Hassan, country representative of the World Health Organization, said that household waste becomes dangerous when it is mixed with medical waste containing poisonous substances and viruses.
“We have to be aware of the problem and distinguish between [standard] waste and medical waste so we can avoid disease,” said Hassan.
Harmful medical waste is not currently separated from other standard waste in Cambodia.
“Medical waste severely affects health, so to prevent these [health] problems, each hospital must separate its medical waste from standard waste,” said Pa Socheatevong. “I believe we must rapidly prepare a mechanism to control this [problem] in the medical services. If not, the problem may be like a bomb that explodes in the city. We will neutralize this medical waste by burning it in incinerators.”
Kum Kanal, chairman of a municipal working group for medical waste control, said the Municipality is trying to separate medical waste from standard waste but is facing problems in implementation.
“We think the important thing is to change the habits of Cambodian people,” Kum Kanal said.
Medical waste discarded by hospitals includes syringes, needles, human organs, placentas, blood and pharmaceuticals. Some of these are a source of microbial transmission which can cause disease, while others are chemical substances which are often detrimental to health.
So far, neither municipal authorities nor the Health Ministry have issued statistics on how many people have become ill or died from illnesses caused by medical waste.
“We do not have [these] figures … but we acknowledge that some people have really got ill because of [medical] waste,” said Kum Kanal.
“[We must] be careful because of possible virus outbreaks … if medical waste is not properly managed or [disposed of],” Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatevong told The Mekong Times after a workshop on the management of medical waste in Phnom Penh yesterday.
“[Human] health problems are partially caused by medical waste which is invisible to the naked eye,” said the deputy governor, citing high-blood pressure and cancers as prominent diseases being faced by city dwellers in Cambodia. “We must realize that environmental pollution and the transmission of viruses have no limits. So, if it occurs, it will cause a massive impact [on people]. We will establish a medical waste management system to protect the environment and public health in the city.”
Phnom Penh covers over 700 square kilometers, with over 1.3 million people discarding a total of more than 1,000 tons of rubbish a day, 70 percent of which is contaminated with medical waste.
A study conducted by the Municipal Health Department of Phnom Penh discovered 1,200 hospitals and clinics in Phnom Penh discarding a total of more than 1.5 tons of medical waste each day into other refuse at the city’s main Stung Meanchey rubbish dump.
Mold Nasir Hassan, country representative of the World Health Organization, said that household waste becomes dangerous when it is mixed with medical waste containing poisonous substances and viruses.
“We have to be aware of the problem and distinguish between [standard] waste and medical waste so we can avoid disease,” said Hassan.
Harmful medical waste is not currently separated from other standard waste in Cambodia.
“Medical waste severely affects health, so to prevent these [health] problems, each hospital must separate its medical waste from standard waste,” said Pa Socheatevong. “I believe we must rapidly prepare a mechanism to control this [problem] in the medical services. If not, the problem may be like a bomb that explodes in the city. We will neutralize this medical waste by burning it in incinerators.”
Kum Kanal, chairman of a municipal working group for medical waste control, said the Municipality is trying to separate medical waste from standard waste but is facing problems in implementation.
“We think the important thing is to change the habits of Cambodian people,” Kum Kanal said.
Medical waste discarded by hospitals includes syringes, needles, human organs, placentas, blood and pharmaceuticals. Some of these are a source of microbial transmission which can cause disease, while others are chemical substances which are often detrimental to health.
So far, neither municipal authorities nor the Health Ministry have issued statistics on how many people have become ill or died from illnesses caused by medical waste.
“We do not have [these] figures … but we acknowledge that some people have really got ill because of [medical] waste,” said Kum Kanal.
2 comments:
It's time to proper managing medical wastes!
Medical wastes are really harmful to health.
Shall look into a government or a capable private run company to collect all medical wastes from all private hospitals and clinics with a reasonable charges so all [hospitals and clinics] would not avoid to dump it into domestic wastes.
Most of medical wastes are to be incinerated as meant of proper disposed
yes, medical wastes are very dangerous for anyone if not properly dissinegrated. even in hospitals in the affluent USA, they have strict guideline for disposal of medical wastes such as dirty needles, diseased wastes, etc..., so, i think cambodian gov't should have a very strict guidelines as well to rid of medical wastes if we want to have a healthy population. dumping them into rivers, lakes or bury them or what have you will not solve this problem. and i'm sure medical personnel know real well the repercussion or dangers this imposes on the country. so, please do something about it. and ask for world community assistance if so lack of ideas or something along that line. please do not just ignore this serious problem. thank you.
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