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Healthcare waste from COVID threatens environment: WHO |



According to the agency of Global analysis of medical waste in the context of COVID-19: current status, impacts and recommendations, Most of the waste is plastic, which is harmful to human health and the environment, and shows the urgent need to improve waste management practices.

The sight of discarded masks, sidewalks, beaches and sidewalks has become a common symbol of the pandemic that is happening around the world.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, the agency’s director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the report “is a reminder that Although the pandemic is the most serious health crisis in a century, it is linked to many other challenges facing countries.. ”

Estimates are based on approximately 87,000 tonnes of personal protective equipment (PPE) that were procured between March 2020 and November 2021 and shipped through a joint United Nations emergency initiative. Most of these devices are said to have become waste.

For the agency, this is only an early indication of the scale of the problem. It does not consider any COVID-19 goods purchased off the initiative, nor waste generated by the public, like disposable face masks.

Fallout COVID

The analysis shows that more than 140 million test kits, with the potential to generate 2,600 tons of non-infectious waste (mostly plastic) – and 731,000 liters of chemical waste (equivalent to a third of a swimming pool size) Olympic – has been shipped.

At the same time, More than 8 billion doses of vaccine have been used globally to produce144,000 wontons of additional waste in the form of syringes, needles and safety boxes.

As the UN and countries grapple with the immediate task of securing and ensuring the quality of PPE supplies, less attention and resources are devoted to the safe and sustainable management of this waste. .

For the CEO of WHODr. Michael Ryan, Health Emergencies Program, this type of protection is important, “but it is also important to ensure that it can be used safely without harming the environment. around.”

This means having an effective management system in place, including instructions for healthcare workers on what to do.

Lack of resources

Today, 30% of healthcare facilities (60% in least developed countries) are not equipped to handle existing wastelet alone the additional waste.

According to WHO, this can result in injury to healthcare workers from needles, burns and disease-causing microorganisms. Communities living near poorly managed landfills and waste disposal sites can be affected by polluted air from waste incineration, poor water quality, or disease-carrying diseases.

WHO Director for Environment, Climate Change and Health, Maria Neira, believes the pandemic has forced the world to take this issue into account.

“The dramatic change at all levels, from the global to the hospital level, in the way we manage medical waste flows, is a fundamental requirement of a smart healthcare system,” she said. Queen”.

Recommendations

The report makes a series of recommendations, including environmentally friendly packaging and shipping; purchase safe and reusable PPE, made of recyclable or biodegradable materials; invest in non-burning waste treatment technology; and invest in the recycling sector to ensure materials, like plastics, can have a second life.

For whomThe health crisis also provides an opportunity to develop strong national policies and regulations, change behavior and increase budgets.

The director of the Healthcare Waste Working Group, Dr Anne Woolridge, notes there is a growing appreciation that investments in health must consider environmental and climate impacts.

“For example, the safe and rational use of PPE will not only reduce environmental harm from waste, but will also save money, mitigate potential supply shortages and further aid,” she explains. preventing infection by changing behaviour”.

Pandemic update

Last Sunday, January 30, marked two years since the WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern, the highest level of alarm under international law.

At the time, there were fewer than 100 cases and no deaths reported outside of China.

Two years later, more than 370 million cases have been reported and more than 5.6 million deaths, and WHO says these numbers are a low number.

Since the Omicron variant was first identified just 10 weeks ago, nearly 90 million cases have been reported, more than in 2020.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that some countries have reported that because of vaccines, and because of Omicron’s high transmissibility and lower severity, preventing transmission is not possible. doable and is no longer necessary.

“Nothing can be further from the truth,” he said.

He noted that WHO is not calling for any country to return to lockdown, but that all countries should continue to protect their people by using every tool in the toolkit, not just vaccines alone.

It is too early for any country to surrender or claim victory“, he argued.



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