Monitor medical waste disposal

The High Court yesterday ordered the government to form a three-member committee at all the eight divisions to monitor and supervise medical waste management at hospitals and diagnostic centres.

It also asked the authorities concerned of the government to explain why they should not be directed to set up effluent treatment plant (ETP) in every hospital, diagnostic and other medical centre for the disposal and treatment of medical garbage.

Most of the hospitals and diagnostic centres in the country are allegedly dumping untreated medical waste along with other garbage, polluting the environment and putting public health in danger.

Yesterday, the HC said the committee, to be headed by a divisional director of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), would be constituted under the Medical Waste Management and Processing Rules, 2008.

The other two members would be nominated by the divisional commissioner and director general (DG) of the Department of Environment (DoE) respectively, Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Sazu told The Daily Star, citing the HC order.

The responsibilities and duties of the committee would include providing license to the proper authority for disposing and processing medical waste, renewing or cancelling the license, monitoring and supervising activities of the license holders and giving them necessary instructions.

The court ordered the health secretary and the DoE DG to submit a report on the progress in forming the committee in every division within July 22.

The HC also issued a rule asking the government to show causes in four weeks as to why it should not be directed to take necessary actions to protect the environment regarding the disposal of the medical waste, its recycling and transportation for the sake of nature and public health.

Secretaries to the ministries of environment and forest, health, and home affairs, DGs of DoE and DGHS, deputy director of the DoE in Chattagram, and Bangladesh Private Clinic and Diagnostic Owners' Association have been made respondents to the rule, petitioner's lawyer Syed Mohidul Kabir told The Daily Star.  

The bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal came up with the rule and the order hearing a writ petition filed by Md Al Amin, a staff reporter at daily Bangladesh Pratidin, seeking necessary HC directives on the matter.

The bench set July 26 for passing further order on the matter.

Amin submitted the petition on April 1 based on a report published in The Daily Star on February 4 with the headline “Hazardous waste heaped in open bins”.

The report said hospitals and diagnostic centres in Chattogram were disposing medical waste in open bins, posing serious health hazards. A total of 87 hospitals and 180 diagnostic centres were operating in the district while only one private organisation -- Chattagram Seba Sangstha -- was working to dispose the medical waste.

The writ petitioner in the prayer said hospitals, diagnostic and other medical centres were disposing soiled, chemical and poisonous waste here and there and every such units needs to have individual or central ETP.