Hospital waste in Rajshahi becoming cause of concern
Anwar Ali, Rajshahi
A ten-point recommendation was adopted for effective medical waste management in Rajshahi city on conclusion of a two-day workshop here recently.The workshop titled 'Medical Waste Management' was jointly organised by World Health Organisation (WHO) and Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) at a local community centre. Forty participant specialists from home and abroad drafted the recommendation. Terming medical waste as a serious threat on health, the speakers urged the authorities concerned to resolve the problem in a coordinated way. They emphasised on co-ordinated efforts of all concerned to ensure health for all. The recommendations include ensuring health ministry's central control over medical waste management, identifying duties of the environment ministry and local administration, devising ways and finding out pragmatic programmes by local authorities, creating public awareness and enacting an act for waste management. RCC chief engineer Sarit Dutt Gupta received the recommendations from 40 specialists for placement to the Health Directorate, Public Health Engineering Department, RCC and different NGOs of home and abroad on the concluding day of the workshop. The workshop was addressed, among others, by Principal of Rajshahi Medical College Professor Dr Fazlur Rahman, Southeast Asian Regional Advisor of WHO Alexander Von Hildebrand, President of Indian Society of Hospital Waste Management and Indira Gandhi Open University expert Dr LK Verma and WHO Environmental Health Advisor Hen Heijnen. Medical wastes pollute the environment and spread germs of different serious diseases, the speakers said. "The threat is acute in Rajshahi city as the hospitals and clinics here are mushrooming", a participant told. RCC Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu MP, attended the inaugural session as the chief guest with RCC Chief Executive Officer Khalilur Rahman in the chair. Minu informed that the government hospitals here already possess waste damaging oven, but it is not sufficient. He urged the private hospital and clinic authorities to dispose of their waste in a scientific way and said an effective cooperation from all concerned is essential as the RCC can not tackle the situation alone.
| 
