KARACHI, March 20: Private hospitals paying a city government contractor for safe hospital waste management, find the yearly 10 per cent increase in fees a burden.

An office-bearer of Private Hospitals and Clinics Association said on Tuesday that in a situation when a limited number of health centres were utilising the incineration plants run by the Karachi District City Government, a regular increase in charges was a burden on environment friendly health facilitators.

He said promotion of safe hospital waste management practices was still a far cry in Karachi due to lack of coordination among different agencies.

According to unofficial estimates, the 3,500 hospitals, health centres, laboratories, and clinics operating in the city generate about 25 tonnes of hazardous waste daily, but only 125 to 140 hospitals and medical centres are availing the city government’s incineration facility or have their own medical waste burning system. As such, only 20 per cent of medical waste is disposed scientifically, while the remaining is either handled with municipal solid waste or recycled or reused for financial benefits, said a source, adding that individuals exposed to hospital waste were potential health risks.

Under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997, hospital waste falls within the hazardous waste category and institutions improperly handling it can be prosecuted, an environmentalist said.

The hospital association member said that the pathetic situation could be addressed only when individuals, including doctors, government agencies and policy and law makers worked equally to ensure a safe environment for people. Since we are paying the governments, they should also favour us by deferring the 10 per cent increase very year policy. He also claimed due to this reason the city government’s incineration plant was operating at around 25 per cent of its capacity.

The CDGK’s Solid Waste Management Mepartment District Officer, Khalid Javed, said this policy was approved by the then KMC about five years ago. The hospitals were initially placed in five or six categories, and minimum charges fixed between Rs1,000 to Rs5,000 per month in 2002.

He said no significant improvement had been observed during this period as far as the number of hospitals utilising the government’s incineration plant was concerned. An improvement can only be expected once environmental protection agencies and city government officials coordinate with each other. He also said rules need to be improved and enforced fully.