Just about a month ago on January 20 to be precise, a quantity of around 200 kg of bio-medical waste consisting mainly of outdated, discarded and contaminated medicines, were found dumped at the Kadamba plateau by the villagers. The State Health Services, the Goa Medical College and Hospital and private hospitals had come under the scanner of the Goa State Pollution Control Board. The question of who dumped the medicines was answered when it was determined that the medicines had been manufactured in Tamil Nadu and had been supplied to the State government. The Directorate of Health Services has now been directed by the Goa State Pollution Control Board to clear the dumped medical waste and dispose it in the incinerator of the Goa Medical College and Hospital.
From this direction it can be assumed that the medicines that had gone beyond the expiry date had been dumped at the Kadamba plateau by a government body, in this case the government department that is in charge of public health and well being. The villagers of Chimbel, who had filed the complaint of the dumping of medicines, had already alleged that it was the Health Services department that had discarded the medicines on the plateau. The department has acted most irresponsibly by dumping expired medicines in the open and even trying to burn them. There is a proper procedure to dispose off all waste, in particular medical waste. The Directorate of Health Services should have been following the Bio-Medical Waste Handling Rules meticulously, but in this case it appears that it has flouted its own rule book. When it does so how can it expect the hospitals, clinics and medical consultants to follow the law? The department should have led by example, in this case it failed miserably to set the example.
There are certain procedures to be followed when dealing with medical waste. Discarding medical waste, especially medicines whose validity has expired, in the open is not just irresponsible behaviour but shows a certain carelessness that borders on the arrogance. This calls for an inquiry where a number of questions need to be asked and answered. Among the questions are: who gave the order that these medicines be dumped in the open? Who did the actual dumping? Is this the first time that the Directorate of Health Services has resorted to dumping discarded medicines or has it done so in the past? It is important to have an answer to the last question and if there are medicines dumped elsewhere, they could lead to an environmental hazard. The Goa State Pollution Control Board can direct that the medicines be cleared from the spot they were dumped at, but there are other government bodies who need to come into the picture and take action against those who gave the order to dump the medicines.
The episode also underlines the urgent need to set up a common bio-medical waste treatment facility for the State. An expert committee to expedite the process has been constituted, but land for this facility is yet to be identified. Any delay in the project will possibly lead to more such instances. Currently, except for Panjim, where the local municipal corporation collects medical waste and treats it at the Goa Medical College incinerator, most other hospitals and clinics dispose their waste themselves, which is not an advisable practice. Last month a Karnataka-based company that handles treatment of medical waste in that State had approached Goa offering to treat the medical waste, and as a stopgap arrangement the facility in Karnataka will treat Goa’s medical waste. But, Goa needs a permanent facility for the 180 tonnes of medical waste that be generates every month, and the fact that a Karnataka-based company is handling the medical waste should not delay the process of setting up the common bio-medical waste treatment facility in the State. It’s importance has been emphasized by the Chimbel incident.
