Hospital waste poses health hazard in Dinajpur

Medical waste littered on a hospital compound in Dinajpur town. PHOTO: STAR

Everyday, around 240 kilograms of waste are generated in about 22 government and private hospitals and at least 200 diagnostic centres, sources at the Civil Surgeon's office said. All the waste are disposed of on roadsides and dustbins, which find their way into canals, drains, rivers and other water bodies, spreading germs. Most of the 15 private clinics in the town are illegal, they said.

Germs in medical waste are not destroyed unless they are incinerated scientifically, they said.

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Scavengers and rag pickers collect used plastic syringes, tubes and other disposed of medical articles from waste heaps, which are recycled. This poses a great health hazard, the sources said.

They said the number of hospitals and diagnostic centres in Dinajpur is much more than in any other northern district because, traditionally it caters to treatment facilities for patients from nearby districts including Parbatipur.

The hospitals in the district town include Dinajpur Medical College and Hospital, Dinajpur Sadar Hospital, Zia Hearth Foundation and Research Center, Cancer and Kidney Research Institute, Eye Hospital, Islami Bank Hospital and Diabetic Hospital, which is the second biggest after BIRDEM in Dhaka. None of the hospitals has any waste treatment facility.

The sources said no effort was made by any government or private hospital in last 10 years for waste treatment.

The municipal authorities have the responsibility to collect the waste. But they do not collect the waste regularly and the accumulated garbage rot on roadsides, spreading diseases and emitting stinky smell.

When contacted, Dinajpur Municipal Chairman Shafiqul Haque Chutu said they can not remove the waste regularly as the municipality has no outfall for garbage disposal. They dispose of the garbage in canals, rivers and other water bodies. Lack of manpower and logistics is also a problem for the municipality, he said.

A doctor at Dinajpur Medical College Hospital seeking anonymity said indiscriminate disposal of waste is causing a major health hazard in the town. But they can not do anything as they do not have any waste treatment facility.

Dr. Saiful Bari, principal of Dinajpur Medical College Hospital, who also a surgeon at Zia Hearth Hospital, said an incinerator should be set up in the town immediately for waste treatment to reduce environmental pollution and health hazard.