By John Rey Saavedra/PNA
CEBU CITY — Hospitals in Central Visayas run by both national and provincial governments should adopt a common machine that can treat pathogenic waste materials, the Department of Health (DOH) 7 (Central Visayas) said Friday.
Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH-7 director, said his office has recommended to their central office the purchase of a machine that can cope with the daily production of waste from hospitals run by the DOH and the provincial governments.
“Although the machine may not be easy to procure because it is costly, we need it because I see that there is also a need to protect our environment,” Bernadas said in a radio interview.
Private service providers could no longer cope with the daily wastage capacity that hospitals from government and private companies are producing, he said.
“Under our health facility enhancement program, we will assist our national (government) and private hospitals (in) their waste disposal,” he added.
Every hospital produces 500 to 1,000 kg. of waste per month, he said.
Central Visayas, he said, has six hospitals run by the national government through the DOH.
The regional health director admitted that many hospitals in the region wanted to set up a hospital waste treatment facility, but could not do it due to the cost of the machine.
Due to overcapacity from both private and public hospitals, private contractors could no longer manage the collection and treatment of hospital waste materials.
On Thursday, Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Central Visayas (DENR) 7 director Gilbert Gonzales announced that they will inspect the waste management and treatment facilities of all resorts, hotels, and malls in the region.
This, after the Davao City Environment Care Inc. was slapped with a PHP250,000 fine by the Environmental Management Bureau 7 following the discovery of more than 100 kg. of hospital waste materials floating along the shore of Mactan Island.
