NAWABSHAH, April 25: In the absence of a mechanism for disposal of hospital’s solid waste, private hospitals and medical centres are dumping their waste in open areas with impunity, posing serious threat to people’s health as well as environment.

The district’s health authorities and municipal administration appear least concerned about the danger the illegal practice poses to people as they have not even assigned the responsibility to any executive district officer or district officer for environment.

No private hospital or medical centre in the district bothers to adopt the guidelines framed by the Environmental Protection Agency on disposal of waste and they continue to dump waste in open places.

They have no incinerators for burning away the waste and they have no proper arrangement for lifting and dumping it in safer places outside the city.

Sources in the hospitals said that the waste, including syringes, empty blood bags, drips, soiled dressings, sponges, drapes, tubes, drainage sets, under-pads and other material, was collected by some groups who sell them in the local market after recycling.

The method used for infectious waste treatment includes steam sterilisation, incineration, thermal inactivation, gas/vapour sterilisation, chemical disinfection, and sterilisation by irradiation.

The only incinerator in the city is installed inside the Nawabshah Medical College Hospital, which reportedly remains out of order most of the time either due to negligence of staff or due to low pressure of gas. Besides, it poses danger to patients and their attendants for being installed inside the hospital.

The medical superintendent of the NMC Hospital Prof Dr. Gulshan Ali Memon said that all the hospitals were registered with an authority in developed countries and were accountable to it but unfortunately there was no regulatory authority in Pakistan to keep check on the hospitals.

Similarly, municipal committees were involved in the management of hospital’s solid waste in developed countries but the situation was much different here, he said.

He said that the incinerator in the NMCH was working properly but its place was not suitable. Such equipment and machinery should always be installed at least 20-25 kilometres away from the city, he advised.

Executive District Officer Health Dr. Bahadur Khero said that the issue did not concern his department and he was not authorised to take any action against hospitals involved in mismanagement of waste. He suggested formation of a committee to find solution to the problem.

Taluka Municipal Officer Nawaz Ali Domki said that the matter though did not concern him either he would send trolleys free of cost for lifting and dumping waste whenever he got a request from any private medical centre, he said

Owners of some private medical centres refused to comment when this scribe approached them.