Hyderabad: As the number of novel coronavirus cases are increasing in the country, the amount of biomedical waste is piling up too. There are several risks if this waste is not properly handled.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has warned of airborne illnesses if biomedical wastes from hospitals are not disposed within 48 hours of accumulation.
The Board has issued various guidelines to the hospitals, asking them not to mix up syringes, needles or any other medical devices used for treating COVID-19 patients with other devices.
The Chief Secretary of Telangana has detailed the municipal commissioners about the precautions to be taken while handling trash collected from nCoV infected households.
It is obligatory to incinerate such garbage or bury it deep inside the ground.
The Kerala Pollution Control Board has recently made suggestions on hospital waste management, citing guidelines set by the World Health Organization and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).
According to the WHO regulations, only 10-25 per cent of the biomedical waste is considered hazardous. But such percentages must be ignored when dealing with a pandemic that is so life-threatening as COVID-19.
More than two-thirds of the 8,00,000 novel coronavirus cases worldwide are reported in eight countries including the US, Spain and Italy.
All the eight nations except Iran, have been taking adequate care in handling the biomedical wastes.
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China needs a special mention here. The Chinese government had introduced the concept of Barefoot Doctors with the intent of healthcare accessible to the rural population.
In the wake of nCoV contagion, it has proved to the world what good healthcare means. Within a span of weeks, it built two thousand-bed hospitals to treat nCoV patients.
Even such a proactive country could not grapple with large masses of biomedical wastes.
Once the situation worsened, the government paid special attention to improving the efficiency of hospital waste management.
Before the massive outbreak, about 137 tons of biowaste from Hubei province were collected and transported to disposal centres.
In a matter of weeks, the biowastes increased to 317 tons. The government had set up mobile disposal centres in cities like Xiaoguang and Wuhan to handle the load.
The situation is contradictory here in India. Instances of hospitals dumping hazardous wastes in pipelines and freshwater lakes is a common sight.
As state-level PCBs are sloppy and corrupt, it is doubtful if anyone would pay heed to the instructions of CPCB.
Biomedical waste management rules prohibit disposal of used syringes, cotton rolls, surgical gloves in residential areas.
Like any other rule, they were violated in India for a long time now. Having turned a blind eye to the legal prohibitions for years now, the CPCB’s responsibility will not end in suddenly implementing the guidelines in the wake of this COVID-19 pandemic.
The new regulations state that bags containing hazardous waste must be frequently sprayed with hypochlorite solution, and personnel who handle such waste must be provided with special masks, gowns, gloves and footwear.
Any lax in implementing these regulations will exacerbate the contagion. After the UNICEF listed down the necessary steps to be followed in handling biomedical wastes, our governments have no choice but to manufacture protective gears for the healthcare and sanitation personnel.
China's experience shows how important it is to procure additional incineration units that can effectively dispose of biodegradable and biomedical wastes.
Though the cost of manufacturing or procuring incinerators which dispose 1,000 kilos per hour at 850-1,100 degrees C, is a costly affair; there is no way we can postpone it.
Bharat Dynamics Limited and Defense Research and Development Organization have come up with the design and manufacture of protective gears at an affordable rate.
The initiative of public sector units to create cheaper alternatives for the safe disposal of biomedical waste can save the country from this impending crisis.
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