Dumping of toxic medical waste spurs closer monitoring of hospitals

Health Secretary Enrique Ona. Inquirer file photo

The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday ordered the closer  monitoring of waste disposal by hospitals in Metro Manila.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona issued the directive after authorities intercepted last week several dump trucks carrying hazardous medical waste from the capital to Capas, Tarlac.

In a report reaching Ona’s office, the Tarlac provincial police said the medical waste came from hospitals in Metro Manila and were being transported by dump truck from Parañaque City to  the Metro Clark Landfill in Kalangitan village, Capas.

The trucks were found to contain human blood and blood-tainted hospital equipment, said the authorities.

Hospitals, according to the DOH, are supposed to have their own facilities to disinfect and dispose of hazardous hospital waste.

“Hospitals and public health care units are supposed to safeguard the health of the community,” Ona  said in his directive. “They should not be irresponsible in disposing of their  waste as this can pose an even greater threat to health than the original diseases they carry.”

Biomedical waste from hospitals are considered harmful as they include human anatomical and animal waste, microbiological and biotechnological waste, discarded medicine and cytotoxic waste, health officials said.  Jocelyn R. Uy