Medical and domestic waste from Nghe An Oncology Hospital has heavily polluted the local channel in Nghe An Province because of dilapidated infrastructure and out-dated treatment plant.
Cua Bac Channel in Hung Loc Commune
The dumping ground of the hospital is located right beside the pavement. Medical bottles, syringes and dirty bandages are mixed with other domestic waste.
The locals living by Cua Bac Channel in Hung Loc Commune, Vinh City, said they had to co-exist with medical waste for years. The water has already turned black and at some sections, the smell is unbearable. The hospital discharges waste water two to three times a day and it makes the water boils with white foam every time.
Du Xuan Ke, a local, said the smell was worst in summer. They had to close all doors to have sufficient appetite to eat. And during monsoon, the polluted water can run into residential areas.
"We signed and submitted many letters of complaint to the hospital and local authorities but nothing has been done," he said.
Dilapidated infrastructure
As of March last year, statistics from Nghe An Centre for Environment Monitoring and Technology showed the hospital had exceeded six out of 15 criteria on medical waste.
The hospital's waste water treatment plant is out-dated and insufficiently serviced. Even the treated water is still toxic. The hospital also admitted to dilapidated infrastructure and broken equipment.
Nguyen Cong Khanh who is in charge of dealing with hospital's waste said they knew the rubbish collecting and classifying were wrong and the waste would cause pollution if being discharged into Cua Bac Channel but they had no other choice. They are still waiting to build new waste treatment plant.
"Patients have also complained to us about the dilapidated infrastructure but currently, we can only repair one thing at a time. We don't have the fund to renovate the whole hospital," he said.
Bach Hung Cu, vice head of provincial Environmental Protection Agency said they had worked with the hospital multiple times but the waste discharging couldn't be stopped.
The hospital's vice director Pham Vinh Hung said they submitted several reports and the Nghe An People's Committee had already approved the hospital’s upgrade but nothing has been started.
