- Hospitals
- 2 min read
Punjab in peril: Government hospitals spilling out biomedical waste
Leave aside private clinic and nursing homes, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has found that six government hospitals and five healthcare centres do not dispose of properly the biomedical waste they generate.PATIALA: Leave aside private clinic and nursing homes, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has found that six government hospitals and five healthcare centres do not dispose of properly the biomedical waste they generate.
The board teams that visited the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar; Government Dental College and Hospital, Patiala; Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot; Mother and Child Hospital, Mandi Gobindgarh; Mandi Gobindgarh Civil Hospital, and Phagwara Civil Hospital, found that these government-run establishments had failed to put in place the arrangements to safely take care of biomedical waste thus endangering more lives than they probably save. Community Health Centre at Malout; Giderbaha Community Health Centre; ESI Hospital, Mandi Gobindgarh; ESI Dispensary-1 at Mandi Gobindgarh and Bassi Pathana Community Health Centre were also at fault.
The PPCB has now got down to initiate action against these violators under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The board's action might see concerned health department officials being charge-sheeted, penalties being imposed and even withdrawal of official sanctions to run the healthcare centres.
The violation of the norms was detected by 40 teams of the pollution board that inspected 95 medical establishments across the state on Thursday.
While Punjab health minister Brahm Mohindra could not be contacted for his comments on the issues, PPCB chairman K S Pannu said it was a serious issue as disposing of the biomedical waste without following the scientific procedure imperiled the general public health and can even lead to spread of fatal diseases.
Pannu said that the board would write to the state health department and also to the concerned officials of these establishments to make certain that the biomedical norms were strictly enforced. "As a law enforcing agency, we will guarantee that all medical establishments in Punjab whether government or private follow the exact procedure to do away with the biomedical waste," he added.
He said that earlier the board used to check healthcare facilities on regular basis, but now it had started conducting surprise inspection to ensure proper compliance of the biomedical waste rules. He said in case there was any letup, stern action would be initiated against concerned persons.
Going by the figures, about 7,400 healthcare facilities in the state produce 15-16 tonnes of biomedical waste every day. The state has already set up four biomedical waste treatment facilities at Mohali, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Pathankot.
The segregation of the biomedical waste starts at the source level after which it is carried to the four facilities that treat the waste scientifically to prevent spread fatal diseases.
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