IT is heartening to note that authorities of Davao, for years dubbed as the “most livable city in the Philippines” by a prestigious international news magazine, are at last taking notice of a potential community menace, the growing volume of hospital wastes.
Unfortunately, only one or two of the more than 20 hospitals and big clinics, have a clear program for disposal of wastes, which include toxic chemicals and used instruments that pose a real threat to the environment and people’s health.
A survey conducted by Edge Davao, by way of letters sent to 20 local hospitals, including those in the outlying districts, had a disappointing result: only two administrators were able to spell out their programs for waste disposal with the corresponding annual budget. The others gave evasive answers or did not respond at all.
No wonder divers have, during sea and beach cleanup campaigns, come across sacks containing discarded sanitary napkins and diapers choking portions of coral reefs and littering the depths of Davao Gulf. No wonder, too, garbage collectors of the city’s environment and natural resources office (Cenro) occasionally find some trash bins full of used syringes and other hospital waste.
The task of making hospitals dispose of their wastes properly should not be difficult for the city government–particularly the Cenro and the city health office–because there is a law that compels them to do so. On top of the national law is a city ordinance that spells out the nitty-gritty of waste segregation. Indeed, it will be the height of irony if hospitals, which are supposed to be the centers of wellness and health, will instead become sources of disease caused by hospital waste not properly disposed.
