Medical waste swelled in pandemic; threatens health, environment: WHO

The Covid19 pandemic has led to tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste putting tremendous strain on health care waste management systems around the world as well as threatening human and environmental health according to a new WHO reportThe report urges the dire need to improve waste management practices even as the health sector is under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint and minimise the amount of waste being sent to landfillAccording to WHO approximately 87000 tonnes of personal protective equipment PPE was procured between March 2020 November 2021 and shipped to support countries urgent Covid19 response needs through a joint UN emergency initiativeMost of this equipment is expected to have ended up as waste indicating the scale of the Covid19 waste problemFurther over 140 million test kits with a potential to generate 2600 tonnes of noninfectious waste mainly plastic and 731000 litres of chemical waste equivalent to onethird of an Olympicsize swimming pool have been shippedMore than 8 billion doses of vaccine have also been administered globally producing 144000 tonnes of additional waste in the form of syringes needles and safety boxesWhile countries grappled with the immediate task of securing and qualityassuring supplies of PPE less attention and resources were devoted to the safe and sustainable management of Covid19 related health care waste the report saidIt is absolutely vital to provide health workers with the right PPE said Michael Ryan Executive Director WHO Health Emergencies Programme in a statementBut it is also vital to ensure that it can be used safely without impacting on the surrounding environment Ryan addedAbout 30 per cent of healthcare facilities 60 per cent in the least developed countries are not equipped to handle existing waste loads let alone the additional Covid19 loadThe report also lays out a set of recommendations for integrating better safer and more environmentally sustainable waste practicesThese include using ecofriendly packaging and shipping safe and reusable PPE eg gloves and medical masks recyclable or biodegradable materials investment in nonburn waste treatment technologies such as autoclaves reverse logistics to support centralised treatment and investments in the recycling sector to ensure materials like plastics can have a second lifeThe Covid19 waste challenge and increasing urgency to address environmental sustainability offer an opportunity to strengthen systems to safely and sustainably reduce and manage health care wasteCovid19 has forced the world to reckon with the gaps and neglected aspects of the waste stream and how we produce use and discard of our health care resources from cradle to grave said Maria Neira Director Environment Climate Change and Health at WHOSignificant change at all levels from the global to the hospital floor in how we manage the health care waste stream is a basic requirement of climatesmart health care systems she added