HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM URGES BAGUIO TO SPEED-UP WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY PURCHASE

January 10, 2009

HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM URGES BAGUIO TO SPEED-UP WASTE
TREATMENT FACILITY PURCHASE

Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA) calls on the local government of Baguio City to speed-up the purchase of a more efficient treatment technology and identify a centralized treatment facility for infectious hospital wastes in the City. This came in time with the release of the Baguio Hospital Waste Assessment Program report late December 2008.

“As early as September last year, HCWH-SEA, the Baguio City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO), Baguio hospital administrators of seven tertiary level hospitals and Councilor Perlita Chan-Rondez agreed that a centralized treatment facility is the immediate and long-term solution to Baguio hospital waste disposal,” said Merci Ferrer, Executive Director of HCWH-SEA.

“A timeline of 75 days from September 18 (when the meeting with stakeholders was held) was agreed on. Irisan dumpsite was targeted as a central treatment facility and the consensus was to purchase an autoclave. That 75 days is way over,” she lamented.

From July 2008, chemically-treated hospitals wastes from Baguio hospitals are not being collected by City Government for the lack of waste treatment facility for chemical and hazardous wastes in the Metro Clark Waste Management Facility . This forced the Baguio hospitals to take care of the final disposal of their treated wastes.

In the report released by HCWH-SEA, the approximated volume of infectious waste produced in a month in seven Baguio hospitals is 9,708 kg.
HCWH-SEA is recommending the use of autoclave . Ferrer said that the purchase of an autoclave and having a centralized treatment facility will “ease a great burden to the city’s coffers.”

The City Government is currently paying P500,000 per day or P17.5 million per month to transport its solid wastes.
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org. (30)

1 The report gives a look at the hospital waste system in seven hospitals in Baguio City. Full copy of the summary is available for interested media people.

2 Metro Clark Waste Management Facility offers waste disposal and management services within Central Luzon.

3 Autoclave uses steam to treat cultures and stocks, sharps, materials contaminated with blood and limited amounts of fluid, isolation and surgery wastes, laboratory wastes (excluding chemical wastes), and soft waste.