Earlier this year, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) had directed all Delhi government hospitals and dispensaries, and other healthcare facilities, to display on their websites and notice boards, the rules for management of biomedical waste (BMW). Though most institutions did follow these guidelines, and even made provisions in terms of items required, the lack of awareness among staffers has marred all this effort.
For instance, at the Hindu Rao Hospital in Delhi, sets of red, yellow, and black dustbins have been placed in every ward, along with a board mentioning the Biomedical Waste Management Rules-2016. Still, the infected waste can be seen mixed with the non-infected waste. In fact, most staffers at the hospital do not even know the significance of these colours and put the waste haphazardly in any of the bins.
When a DNA team visited the hospital, some of the bins were overflowing with waste. Plastic waste and gloves could be seen peeping through bins meant for human anatomical waste. "We generally segregate waste and dispose it as per the colour of the bin. This has happened only today," said one of the staff nurses on duty.
Chart representing the correct usage of dustbins of different colours
BMW is generated during various medical procedures, and includes infected human anatomical waste such as placenta and tissues. It is to be put in yellow bins. Infected soiled waste such as dressings and POP casts is supposed to go in the red bins, and non-infected waste in the black bins. Apart from these, there are blue bins for infected plastics and white containers for sharps. The blue bins were mostly missing at the hospital.
According to the DGHS guidelines, every hospital has to maintain and update, on a day-to-day basis, the bio-medical waste management register and display the monthly record on its website, according to the BMW generated, in terms of category and colour coding. This was missing at the Hindu Rao hospital, and its website also did not display any such rules.
Dismissing DNA's concerns, hospital's Medical Superintendent Dr Ajit Kumar Goyal said: "We make sure that our staffers are informed on the segregation. From time to time, we send circulars in this regard. I myself go out for inspections. I would send a circular again to resolve all problems."
Analysis
Healthcare facilities and regulatory authorities need to ensure that BMW management improves. Legal action against defaulting facilities is the need of the hour.
