Wastewater and medical waste treatment: Red alert!

We went to Dan Nhiem block, Nam Dan town on October 22, 2018 after receiving complaints from local residents about the environmental pollution caused by medical waste treatment activities of Nam Dan General Hospital. We arrived at the house of Mr. Phan Ba ​​Hung (born in 1972), a resident living next to the fence of Nam Dan General Hospital. Mr. Hung was very upset, jumped over the fence and called his neighbors to put up a ladder for us to "break into" the medical waste treatment area of ​​Nam Dan General Hospital. Next to the hospital's waste incinerator, Mr. Hung said that every day in the early morning and early afternoon, hospital staff take the garbage to the incinerator. Every time, smoke, dust, and acrid odors cover the entire area.

Manual medical solid waste incinerator area of ​​Nam Dan General Hospital.

According to observations, Mr. Hung's house is only about 20m from the medical waste incinerator of Nam Dan General Hospital. This is a manual furnace built of bricks with an area of ​​about 4 - 5m², the chimney is only about 7m high, located in the land behind the hospital - where the entire solid waste treatment system of the hospital is concentrated.

At 11am the same day, the fire in the furnace was still smoldering. Looking inside, there were many medical bandages, even glass bottles like tubes for collecting samples and tests. This was confirmed by Mr. Phan Ba ​​Hung, that in the morning the hospital had just burned waste so the fire had not been completely extinguished.

Next to the manual incinerator, there is a waste treatment plant that looks quite modern. But according to the people living near the hospital, it has not been in operation for a long time. In fact, the people's reflection is correct because it has been marked as a medical waste storage house. Opposite the manual incinerator is a warehouse about 30m wide.², roofed with corrugated iron, inside are bags and plastic bags containing classified medical waste. The space is filled with a foul smell.

But Mr. Hung said that this stench is not as scary as the medical staff often come to the bushy wasteland between his house and the incinerator (about 300m wide).²) to dig holes to bury many types of medical samples, including placentas. "To be honest, many times I witnessed them (medical staff - PV) digging holes to bury placentas, I loudly protested, even threatened them, but I couldn't stop them" - Mr. Hung was upset, pointing to a piece of land that he said had just been dug up.

Mr. Phan Ba ​​Hung points to the location where hospital staff recently buried the placenta. The image shows that this is a new location compared to the surrounding area.

According to Mrs. Trinh Thi Han, 84 years old, a neighbor of Mr. Phan Ba ​​Hung, this entire land has no drainage system. Therefore, every time it rains, the residential area west of Dan Nhiem block is flooded. Polluted flood water from the hospital overflows and rises, causing untold suffering to the residents. “Every time the hospital burns garbage, we have to close the doors. But the smoke still flows into the house. And every time it rains, the water floods. Living here is very polluted. People have been complaining for many years…” - Mrs. Han said.

Discussing this issue with Mr. Vo Thang Long - Head of Dan Nhiem Block, Nam Dan Town, he affirmed that what the people reflected was correct. Mr. Long said that Nam Dan General Hospital has been quite receptive when it has made many moves and efforts to find solutions after the people's opinions. However, the problem of waste incineration still pollutes the environment. According to Mr. Vo Thang Long, Nam Dan General Hospital needs to invest in a standard waste incinerator so as not to affect the lives of people in the area.

On the afternoon of October 22, at Nam Dan General Hospital, we discussed what we heard and saw with Mr. Phan Cong Dung - Deputy Head of Administration Department and he confirmed that such problems still exist here. According to Mr. Dung, Nam Dan General Hospital has about 100 kg of medical waste every day. After collecting, the hospital staff will classify it. For types of bandages, tools for taking samples, etc., they will be burned at the hospital. The rest will be transported by a unit with the function of handling medical waste that the hospital has contracted with using specialized vehicles. "The hospital has done everything in its capacity to eliminate environmental pollution problems. However, up to now, there are still problems in the treatment of medical waste" - Mr. Dung discussed.

The modern but damaged medical waste incinerator area had to be locked.

According to Mr. Ho Son - Director of the hospital: "At Nam Dan General Hospital, there are many issues that need to be resolved, including environmental issues. Currently, the hospital has solved the wastewater problem. However, in the treatment and burning of medical waste, it is still inevitable that smoke and odor will affect the surrounding residential area...".

The question is: What is Nam Dan General Hospital's plan to thoroughly solve the problem of environmental pollution? Director Ho Son replied: Nam Dan General Hospital has made a proposal to higher authorities to be interested in investing in a modern medical waste incineration system that does not cause environmental pollution, but so far it has not been considered for resolution...

It is known that up to now, the whole province still has 21 seriously polluted facilities and 19 polluted facilities. In this list, there are 17 hospitals and medical centers. Of which, 12 hospitals have invested in wastewater and solid waste treatment systems and have submitted applications for certification of completion, including: Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, Endocrinology Hospital, Quy Hop General Hospital, Dien Chau General Hospital, Vinh Transport Hospital, Phu Dien General Hospital, Southwest Regional General Hospital, Yen Thanh General Hospital, Nghi Loc District General Hospital, Anh Son General Hospital, Que Phong District General Hospital, Cua Lo Town General Hospital. However, after the Department of Natural Resources and Environment organized inspections and took control samples, the results did not meet the regulations.

Dan Nhiem residential area is polluted by dust from the hospital.

The medical waste treatment area of ​​Nam Dan General Hospital is only one fence away from the households.

According to the Department of Environmental Protection, the 12 hospitals mentioned above have committed to correcting and improving the system so that by May 30, 2018, they will complete and prepare documents to request certification. However, up to now, only Cua Lo General Hospital, Tay Nam Regional General Hospital, Yen Thanh General Hospital, Que Phong General Hospital and Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital have prepared documents to request certification of completion. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is currently reviewing the documents and continuing to monitor the situation and urge the remaining hospitals...

According to the Department of Environmental Protection, the Northwest General Hospital has invested in a centralized wastewater treatment system from the provincial budget, which is currently in the process of trial operation and handover. The Oncology Hospital and the Rehabilitation Hospital are investing in the construction of a waste treatment system, expected to be completed and put into use by the end of 2018. Tan Ky General Hospital and Do Luong General Hospital have invested in a wastewater treatment system from a loan from the German Reconstruction Bank, and are currently in the process of agreeing on the selection of treatment technology with the investor. There are 5 hospitals that have not yet completed the thorough treatment according to the approved measures...

Obviously, the problem of environmental pollution from wastewater and medical waste in the public hospital system is still very worrying. This is shown not only through the assessment of the Department of Environmental Protection, but also through the reality at Nam Dan General Hospital. It is necessary to affirm this because Nam Dan General Hospital was once on the list of facilities with serious environmental pollution, and has now been confirmed to be completed. While in reality, it is still necessary to bury specimens and manually burn medical waste, affecting the living environment of the people.