Biomedical Waste Management in India: Still a looming concern

Why in news?
  • Bio-medical waste management (BMWM) in India has necessitated the MoEFCC to amend and enforce the “parent rules” of 2016, yet again.
  • On February 19, 2019 amendments to improve compliance and strengthen the implementation of the policy for environment viability.
More in news
  • BMWM (Amendment) Rules, 2018:
    (1) All bedded healthcare facilities (HCFs) irrespective of their number of beds required to regularly update the BMWM register.
    (2) HCFs which have beds less than 10 shall have to comply with the output discharge standard for liquid waste generated, latest by December 31, 2019.
    (3) Corresponding duties of Ministry of Defence officials as per Schedule III: A report needs to be submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) after the inspection and monitoring of HCFs, Medical Inspection (MI) rooms and AFMS.
    (4) In March 2018, the BMW amendments delve into extension of dates to phase out chlorinated plastic bags (excluding blood bags) and gloves etc.
  • Situation in india:
    (1) According to the CPCB annual report of 2016, total quantity of BMW generation in the country is approximately 517 tonnes per day (TPD).
    (2) To grapple with these manifold increases in generation of BMW, 199 common bio-medical waste treatment facilities (CBWTFs) are in operation and 23 are under construction (CPCB, 2017).
    (3) Safe and effective management of waste is not only a legal necessity but also a social responsibility.
  • Implementation of rules:
    (1) Despite of having the BMWM legislation since 1998, followed by the changes in the recent past, many regions of the country still have dearth of systematic efforts to mitigate risks associated with such waste.
    (2) The compliance of rules is still an ongoing process in the country and law in many states is writ large.
    (3) The legal obligation has been reduced to paper formality only and there is a lack of concern, motivation, awareness and cost factor in proper biomedical waste management.
  • Way forward:
    (1) Managing healthcare waste requires HCFs and regulatory authorities have to take stringent measures in order to ensure safe disposal of BMW in the country.
    (2) Training and awareness programme for healthcare personnel needs to be conducted.
    (3) Legal actions against defaulting HCFs and ill-operated CBWTFs is obligatory.
    (4) Self-regulatory mechanism for monitoring and implementation for waste management should be encouraged.
    (5) Sufficient allocation of funds through central funding from National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) should be ensured.
Source
Down to earth




Posted by Jawwad Kazi on 9th Apr 2019
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