Medical waste disposal in need of urgent attention
Published:Friday | February 4, 2022 | 12:06 AM
MINISTER OF Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton has admitted that the timely and proper disposal of medical waste remains a problem for Jamaica, despite the recognition that it is a public health hazard that demands a comprehensive management system.
Despite having an incinerator downtown which handles some of the medical waste, the health minister said that disposing of the waste had been a major issue in Jamaica for a very long time.
He told The Gleaner on Saturday that even with the use of an incinerator, which is located downtown Kingston and the employment of independent contractors, who have limited capacity, the matter is still in need of urgent attention.
“It is a matter that does need some priority attention, and only last week I had a meeting with the permanent secretary about an approach that we need to take in attracting the necessary technology and expertise to deal with it. So while we are dealing with it in a relatively effective way, we need to do more, and we have to accept and admit that,” he shared during an interview at a pop-up spaying and neutering clinic hosted by the Montego Bay Animal Haven at 139 Old Hope Road, St Andrew.
He continued: “We’ve been discussing internally in the ministry, an approach to be a lot more holistic and all-encompassing. It may mean some sort of public-private partnership which will address the capacity issues. There is a capacity issue and oftentimes we have to stockpile; and we do have some of the stockpiles of some of the waste – like chemotherapy, and so on – that is just stored ... it is to my mind, something that requires attention.”
Tufton explained that the stockpile of medical waste had been built up over many years, but in the interest of the environment, public health and safety, the matter needs to be addressed in a comprehensive way as a matter of urgency.
COVID-19 has also contributed to the build-up of medical waste because the hypodermic needles, as well as the swabs and cotton used in the vaccination process, have to be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.