Writer: Asist lecturer Abeer Mortada Al-Saadi
Center for strategic studies/ Crisis management Department
Translated by: Hiba A. Mohammed Ali
Reviewed by: Lecturer. Hussain B. Abdulameer
17-5-2020
Governments of developing countries face today a threat_ no less dangerous than Coronavirus_ of the medical Waste in hospitals and health care centers where patients with Corona disease are lying there or the pioneers of health-care centers as well as household Waste and other quarantine zone, which in its entirety, medical waste is dumped from contaminated masks, gloves, used medicines, syringes, and other contaminated and carrying equipment for viruses and microbes.
In Iraq, under unstable economic, social, and political conditions, people don’t feel that the government care about this matter. Because of the medical Waste is treated like normal Waste, throw it without sorting or cutting, no burning plants, no landfill sites, no chemical treatments to lessen its dangerous, this will puts the environment and community health at risk of Coronavirus and other diseases transmission to people and animals.
“There are many children in hospitals were infected because they collecting the recyclable materials from garbage to sell it to recycling facilities in order to get money” pediatrician in Al-Sadr city said.
UNEP indicated that the amount of medical Waste from hospitals was 0.5 kg per day, which refers to increasing of quantities under Coronavirus pandemic and this will lead to an environmental and health crisis requires managing Waste that will cause a nature pollution, transmit the disease from Waste to the animals and people those living on Waste scapegoat or workers who transfer these Waste. So we should put an urgent solutions to deal with these Waste as well as follow basic methods to manage medical Waste from collection and separation to transfer and disposal of as well as take care of workers’ health and provide protective clothing.
Basel agreement showed the importance of following technical methods for the disposal of medical Waste, guiding developing states how to manage these Waste according to right ways keep citizens and nature through handling and disposal Waste in four ways thermal, chemical, radiological and biological processes, this will be the responsibility of the State and its institutional mechanisms.
