Incinerators burn on average 895 tons of medical waste per month

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MoH in move to reduce and eliminate its risks

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 14: The Ministry of Health is making remarkable efforts to address the problem of medical waste extracted in all its health facilities, in the public and private medical sectors, which goes through many stages starting from its transfer from the health center or facility, up to treatment stations specialized in dealing with such waste, which averages about 895 tons a month, reports Al- Qabas daily. Hazardous medical waste, the daily quoting medical sources said, is the result of what is collected from health care facilities, medical laboratories, pharmacies and pharmaceutical factories belonging to the government and private sectors. According to the Assistant Undersecretary for the Services Sector at the Ministry of Health, Abdulaziz Al-Tasha, medical waste also includes waste that is likely to be infectious, and includes waste generated from medical facilities of all kinds, as well as waste from laboratories and pharmacies.

Risks
Al-Tasha indicated that the aim of treating such waste is to reduce and eliminate its risks, pointing to several methods of treatment, such as those carried out through “incineration technology”, with very high temperatures that reach in some stages 1200 degrees Celsius, in specially prepared units, and it is considered one of the most reliable, common and efficient methods.

Al-Tasha told the daily that the ministry is keen to reduce waste in health facilities, which in turn reduces procurement costs, disposal expenses and the risks of dealing with it, by training workers in departments that produce large quantities of it on how to reduce it and sort it with the yellow color coding approved for hazardous medical waste collection bags and containers, in addition to focusing on changing work methods and procedures in which low-product materials are used for waste, as possible without negatively affecting the quality or efficiency of the services provided.

Responsibility
He added that the responsibility for waste separation rests with those who produce it, regardless of their position. Separating it from the place of its production begins with separating hazardous waste from non-hazardous waste, which is disposed of through the landfill designated for municipal waste. When separating, consideration is given to determining its type, risks and methods of disposal.

He pointed to the availability of containers for each type of waste that is separated, and the provision of a closed place for temporary storage near the place of its production inside the health facility and without mixing between the types, after which it is transported to places for treatment according to its type, and when there is doubt about the quality, it is taken as a precaution and classified as hazardous wastes.

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