AMMAN — While standard
COVID-19 response procedures include
strict lockdown, testing procedures, and hospital facilities, an
often-overlooked element is medical and household waste management.
اضافة اعلان
In Jordan, the average daily medical waste production per
bed in some hospitals during the pandemic increased between 3 to 10 times
compared to the quantities generated under normal conditions, according to
Jordan’s Economic and Social Council’s 2020 country status report.
Healthcare waste, as defined by
World Health Organization guidelines, includes all waste generated within healthcare facilities, research
centers, and laboratories related to medical procedures. It also includes
healthcare waste generated in households.
“The waste generated during the pandemic is large and
difficult to manage, and so it is important that this does not enter the
environment,” said biosafety and biosecurity expert and team leader at the
Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network, Tariq Sannouri, in an interview
with Jordan News. “We still don’t know a lot about this virus; seeing as it is
an infectious biological disease, it must be properly gotten rid of.”
If medical waste such as disposable masks and plastic gloves
are discarded as general waste, there is a risk to landfill workers, medical
workers, and anyone who comes into contact with these potentially contagious
items, Sannouri explained. All biological samples are therefore always assumed
to be infectious.
Sannouri said that both governmental and private entities
now need to play a role in treating, transporting, and discarding medical waste
in Jordan.
Conditions created by the pandemic significantly increased
this waste, said Ministry of Environment spokesperson Ahmad Obeidat in an
interview with Jordan News, which posed challenges that led to collaboration
for collection and transportation of waste.
“Private companies that deal with medical waste have to be
authorized by the Ministry of Environment before collaborating with
governmental and private entities,” Obedat said.
The protocols adopted
by Jordan, he added, are within the standards set by global institutions.
The procedures are then followed by hospitals and
institutions throughout Jordan. “Medical waste is disposed of according to the
Ministry of Health protocols regarding medical waste,” head of the private
hospital association, Fawzi Hamouri, told Jordan News. Correct sorting of
waste, using designated waste bags, and treating biological waste through
autoclave technologies, he added, are essential tactics to make the waste less
dangerous.
Hospitals across the nation witnessed this significant rise
in medical waste during the COVID-19 pandemic firsthand. “We used to generate
around 100 to 150kg daily of waste, it has now reached around 200 to 300kg a
day,” said Abdulhadi General Hospital CEO Rafat Nimer in an interview with
Jordan News.
“This quantity doubled as everything that enters the rooms
of COVID-19 patients is counted as medical waste,” said Nimer.
“Even the disposable
plates and spoons; they are no longer general waste, because they are
infectious.”
While the hospital currently contracts a private company
that specializes in the treatment and discarding of medical waste, it is
working on acquiring proper devices to treat the waste within the hospital.
“This solution lowers the risks and is better for the environment,” Nimer said.
“It directly treats waste with no transportation.”
Another issue, experts agree, is household-generated
COVID-19 waste.
“Infectious waste generated from households and public
places during the COVID-19 pandemic includes potentially contaminated
materials,” states the United Nations Environment Program COVID-19 waste
management report. This includes masks, gloves, tissues, disposable clothes,
and other personal protective equipment.
In addition to being a health risk, the improper discarding
of household medical waste is an environmental concern. “We often see masks
discarded in the streets and this will cause an environmental catastrophe in
the future,” Nimer said. “We should look into recycling these masks or
designating areas for this waste.”
The onset of the coronavirus pandemic resulted in some
environmental benefits, including the reduction in pollutants generated by
transportation, said Abdul Ghani Albaali, professor in environment technology
and management at Princess Sumaya University for Technology.
However, the non-biodegradable quality of the materials used
for masks and gloves, for example, is an issue. “The government should have
more awareness campaigns to encourage proper discarding as these are considered
hazardous materials,” Abaali said.
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