Medical waste industry needs clean up - DA

The discovery by the Green Scorpions of apparently the largest ever illegal medical waste dump in South Africa shows that the industry needs a drastic clean up. This case has emerged only six weeks after the DA released a discussion document on problems in the medical waste industry. In this document, the DA outlined the poor governance of the industry by both the national department of environmental affairs and the various provincial health departments.

It further showed, using a review of news reports over the last two years, that there have been numerous cases in South Africa where medical waste has been illegally handled, stored or dumped.  I will write to the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs urging her to establish a Health Care Waste Management Programme to address the inadequacies of the management of medical waste as it stands.

The raid on various sites operated by the second largest waste company in South Africa, Wasteman, as reported in the Sunday Times, found among other things, 300 tons of waste buried in the grounds of a factory in the Free State and anatomical waste at a treatment facility in Durban that had not been destroyed, despite the window period in which the treatment should have occurred having passed (see report).

The DA commends the work of the Green Scorpions and the SAPS in coordinating this action. However, this action would never have occurred had the governance of the industry been better. Government simply does not have a holistic view of a sector which is plagued by, among other things, a lack of capacity to treat medical waste and the poor functioning of some incinerators.  This latest case of medical waste dumping, as reported in the Sunday Times, is symptomatic of bigger problems.

This case should also be of major concern to the various hospitals that have contracts for medical waste disposal with Wasteman, and its subsidiary, Phambili Wasteman. Environmental principles state that the generator of waste, that is the hospital or clinic, remains ultimately responsible for ensuring the safe treatment and disposal of this waste. This means in practice that the service provider that ultimately treats the waste needs to issue the generator with a "certificate of destruction" to confirm that the waste has been treated. The Sunday Times confirms that medical waste from various hospitals in Durban was buried at the Free State site.

The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, together with the Health Minister and the Health MECs in the nine provinces must not allow further illegal storage or dumping of medical waste. The incorrect disposal of this waste poses a serious health risk to people, and environmental risks to soil and groundwater. They should convene swiftly to consider the proposal by the DA for a structure to improve governance of the medical waste sector.

Statement issued by Gareth Morgan, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of water and environmental affairs, November 29 2009

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Tons of highly infectious raw medical waste, including bloody swabs and body parts collected from South Africa's biggest state and private hospitals, have been unearthed in the back yard of a brick factory. The horrific 300-ton stash of filthy bandages, used needles, vials and discarded pills found buried in the Free State town of Welkom is the Green Scorpions' biggest medical waste discovery to date."

Sunday Times, November 29 2009

 

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responses to this article

Carte Blanche This story broke months ago on Carte Blanche. One wonders why it is still a problem and it has not been dealt with by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs. The contamination in itself is not only unsightly, it is lethal in every respect. Why . .more are the culprits within the medical supply chain, including the hospitals not fined / jailed to set an example? It still boggles my mind that the guilty continiously slip through our legal system - perhaps their cheque books are somewhat larger than us mere mortals on the ground? . .less by Ironman on November 30 2009, 05:49 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

And out of interest... Are these private or public hospitals, or both, contracting with Wasteman, and its subsidiary, Phambili Wasteman? I woudl like to think that private hospitals, if they were involved, would have immediately changed their contractors once Carte . .more Blanche exposed the problem. I have lower expectations of public hospitals, given the maladministration and corruption endemic to those institutions. But the full facts would be interesting. . .less by Al on November 30 2009, 11:22 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Who's to blame? Both private and public hospitals makes use of Wasteman and Phambili. However, I have seen news reports on medical waste not even being taken away from some state hospitals. It just laid outside to rot. I assume that if a 'certificate of . .more destruction' has to be shown all the time then maybe, taking in consideration that there aren't enough incinerators to deal with the amount of medical waste, these certificates aren't being issued and showed all the time and that some waste gets disposed correctly as can be with what is available and the rest is just dumped illegally. The waste companies are responsible for the allocating of safe disposing mechanisms? . .less by RS on December 03 2009, 01:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

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