Report exposes poor handling of biomedical waste
A report in Diario Libre by investigative journalist Tania Molina shows extremely casual handling of potentially dangerous biomedical waste in many of the country's hospitals and other healthcare centers. Despite "manuals", her research shows a lack of cooperation by almost all the parties involved in the disposal of these potentially dangerous waste products. At the beginning of her article, she describes seeing maintenance employees at the Oncological Hospital disposing of the red plastic bags assigned to hazardous biomedical waste without proper protection for themselves or the environment. When questioned, the employees refused to comment and questions addressed to the hospital's administration were not answered.
Other hospitals, such as the Dr. Salvador Gautier IDSS hospital, are better equipped to dispose of their biomedical waste. However, sources there revealed that employees sometimes refused to wear the protective gear required in the manuals issued by the ministries and international health organizations.
The reporter also points out that there is only one company that services only 13 health centers in the national district in the disposal of their medical refuse. An interesting note is that the local municipal governments are in charge of the disposal of ordinary waste (garbage) from hospitals, but the manuals require the hospitals themselves to dispose of their medical waste. Fetuses and body parts from amputations require burial in a cemetery, but are often found discarded in normal refuse. On the whole, everyone interviewed by the reporter agreed that there was a lot of room for improvement.
A report in Diario Libre by investigative journalist Tania Molina shows extremely casual handling of potentially dangerous biomedical waste in many of the country's hospitals and other healthcare centers. Despite "manuals", her research shows a lack of cooperation by almost all the parties involved in the disposal of these potentially dangerous waste products. At the beginning of her article, she describes seeing maintenance employees at the Oncological Hospital disposing of the red plastic bags assigned to hazardous biomedical waste without proper protection for themselves or the environment. When questioned, the employees refused to comment and questions addressed to the hospital's administration were not answered.
Other hospitals, such as the Dr. Salvador Gautier IDSS hospital, are better equipped to dispose of their biomedical waste. However, sources there revealed that employees sometimes refused to wear the protective gear required in the manuals issued by the ministries and international health organizations.
The reporter also points out that there is only one company that services only 13 health centers in the national district in the disposal of their medical refuse. An interesting note is that the local municipal governments are in charge of the disposal of ordinary waste (garbage) from hospitals, but the manuals require the hospitals themselves to dispose of their medical waste. Fetuses and body parts from amputations require burial in a cemetery, but are often found discarded in normal refuse. On the whole, everyone interviewed by the reporter agreed that there was a lot of room for improvement.
