Medical waste and wastewater which are often improperly treated or even discharged directly into the environment are adding to health concerns and environmental pollution in Vietnam.
Many medical stations yet to build waste and wastewater treatment systems
The Ministry of Health’s Environment Management Department said at a seminar on the issue in HCM City on September 19, they are finding solutions for waste and wastewater discharged by the 13,000 hospitals and private health consultation rooms nationwide.
On average, hospitals at central level discharge over seven tonnes of waste daily, while facilities at lower levels discharge 38 tonnes of waste in total every day.
The amount of wastewater discharged by hospitals and medical stations across the country varies from 30,000 cubic metres to 100,000 cubic metres per day, depending on the size of the facility.
Even though medical waste must be classified into five different groups for suitable treatment under the current regulations, many hospitals and medical stations have been unable to comply with these rules due to the lack of standard waste treatment systems.
Waste classification would foster treatment process
According to the department, 69% of hospitals and 32% of health provision facilities have hired waste treatment services or processed the waste on their own. Many of the remaining medical stations have opted to bury or burn the waste in improper conditions.
The treatment of medical wastewater is also a major concern of the department. Currently 63.5% of hospitals and half of pharmaceutical production establishments, have built their own wastewater treatment systems.
A lot of untreated medical wastewater is discharged directly onto the surrounding land causing great public concern over potential health and environmental hazards.
“Several hospital leaders claimed that they are still lacking funding for medicines let alone for correct waste treatment,” Nguyen Dinh Anh, an official from the department said.
Anh blamed the situation on a lack of awareness by leaders of medical stations.
The lack of human resources for the newly-established department and the lack of related regulations also exacerbate the situation, he commented.