Regulate management of bio-medical waste

Stakeholders at a public discussion on the management of bio-medical waste in the country have stressed the need for the crafting of a legislative instrument to harmonise the various policies on bio-medical waste management.

The law, they said, should also ensure its strict enforcement in order to avert serious health implications that could arise from the improper management of such waste.

They also expressed worry over the improper management of bio-medical waste by some medical institutions in the country and called on health institutions to be more responsible in the management of the waste they generated.

These concerns were expressed at a bio-medical waste management event organised by the Imani Centre for Policy and Education in Accra yesterday.

Bio-medical waste management

The public forum was held following research carried out by Imani titled: “Biomedical waste management in Ghana: A need for urgent attention and legislation”.

Bio-medical waste essentially is about the by-products generated by health institutions from the disposable tools they use on patients, human parts that are cut during surgery and delivery, as well as any material used in a health facility that could be dangerous to the public if not disposed of properly.

According to the Imani research, the current methods used in managing and disposing of bio-medical waste in Ghana —  direct burying, open burying and incineration — posed serious health risks to the immediate health officials, waste handlers and the entire public.

The risks, it said, ranged from infections, odour from burial pits, toxic smoke from uncontrolled burning and incineration to possible contaminated groundwater.

As a result of the hazardous nature of bio-medical waste, it said, it required special collection, storage, treatment, transportation and disposal methods in managing it.

Outdated policy

According to Imani Ghana, the Ministry of Health’s policy guideline on medical waste handling which was published in March 2006 was not being enforced wholly in most health facilities across the country.

It said that aside from the sorting of the bio-medical waste according to recommended codes, subsequent activities in the value chain from collection to disposal were unregulated and unsupervised.

Speaking at the forum, a lead researcher, Ms Keshia Osei-Kuffuor, said there was the need for a consolidation of the existing policies on the management of bio-medical waste into a legal instrument with explicit guidelines and punitive regimes for those who violated the law.

She was of the view that the management of the waste ought not to be the sole function of the state and that the private sector should be engaged to provide the needed expertise.

Way forward

The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Victor Bampoe, said the ministry would  consider the recommendations in the Imani research report and inculcate them into the appropriate legislation.

Some Members of Parliament present, including the Ranking Member on the Select Committee on Environment, Science and Technology, Mr Francis Addai-Nimoh, said the committee was already working on legislation on hazardous waste so it would be appropriate for Imani to collaborate with the Ministry of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and other related stakeholders to build a consensus of ideas on bio-medical waste that would be inculcated into the legislation.

The Chief Executive Officer of Imani, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, told the Daily Graphic in an interview after the forum that going forward, his outfit would meet the various institutional stakeholders to fashion out the contributions they could make into the law on the management of bio-medical waste.

Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh