Month: February 2022

GENEVA— The World Health Organization warned Tuesday that the vast amount of waste produced in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic posed a threat to human and environmental health.

The tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste had put a huge strain on healthcare waste management systems, the WHO said in a report.

The extra waste is “threatening human and environmental health and exposing a dire need to improve waste management practices”, the UN health agency said.

As countries scrambled to get personal protective equipment (PPE) to cope with the crisis, less attention was paid to disposing of Covid-19 health care waste safely and sustainably, the WHO said.

The report looked at the 1.5 billion units — approximately 87,000 tonnes — of PPE procured between March 2020 and November 2021, and shipped out to countries via the United Nations system — a small fraction of the global total.

Most of this equipment has likely ended up as waste, the WHO said.

“It is absolutely vital to provide health workers with the right PPE. But it is also vital to ensure that it can be used safely without impacting on the surrounding environment,” said WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan.

Furthermore, over 140 million test kits have been shipped, with the potential to generate 2,600 tonnes of mainly plastic, non-infectious waste and 731,000 litres of chemical waste.

Approximately 97 percent of plastic waste from tests is incinerated, the report said.

And the first eight billion Covid-19 vaccine doses administered globally produced 144,000 tonnes of additional waste such as syringes, needles and safety boxes.

The WHO does not recommend using gloves for vaccine injections but the report said it appeared to be common practice.

Gloves, in terms of volume, constitute the greatest proportion of PPE waste of all items procured by the UN, the report said.

The 71-page report warned that safe management services for healthcare waste were lacking even before the pandemic added further pressures.

The latest available data, from 2019, suggested that one in three healthcare facilities globally did not safely manage healthcare waste — and in the 46 least-developed countries, more than two in three facilities did not have a basic healthcare waste management service.

“This potentially exposes health workers to needle stick injuries, burns and pathogenic microorganisms, while also impacting communities living near poorly-managed landfills and waste disposal sites through contaminated air from burning waste, poor water quality or disease-carrying pests,” the WHO said.

The report recommended practical solutions, such as using PPE more rationally; using less packaging; developing reusable PPE; using PPE made with biodegradable materials; investing in non-burn waste treatment technology; centralising waste management; and investing in local PPE production.

“Addressing environmental concerns does not necessitate compromising on safety,” it said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

GENEVA —

The World Health Organization warns of health care risks posed by discarded COVID-19 equipment and is calling on nations to better manage their systems for disposing of the used gear.

Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic requires the use of huge quantities of personal protective equipment or PPE and the use of needles and syringes to administer vaccines, among other essential products.

A new World Health Organization global analysis finds the quantities of health care waste generated by the goods are enormous and potentially dangerous. Maggie Montgomery is the technical officer for water, sanitation and health in the WHO Department of Environment.

She says COVID-19 has increased health care risks in facilities at up to 10 times previous volumes.

“If you consider that two in three health care facilities in the least developed countries did not have systems to segregate or safely treat waste before this pandemic, you can just imagine how much burden this extra waste load has put on health care workers, on communities, especially where waste is burned,” Montgomery said.

The report finds the hazardous disposal of COVID-19 waste potentially exposes health workers to needle stick injuries, burns and pathogenic microorganisms, air pollution and many dangers associated with living near poorly managed landfills and waste disposal sites.

WHO experts analyzed approximately 87,000 tons of PPE that were shipped to needy countries between March 2020 and November 2021 through a joint U.N. emergency initiative. Most of the equipment, they say, was expected to end up as waste.

The report provides an initial indication of the scale of the COVID-19 waste problem that exists only within the health sector, which is enormous. Montgomery says it does not look at the volumes of waste being generated in the wider community.

“In terms of the waste generated by the public, in particular masks. For example, in 2020, there were 4.5 trillion additional disposable masks thrown away by the public, which led to six million tons of additional waste,” Montgomery said. “So, certainly, the public is generating the most. At the same time, we feel that the health sector has a really important role and there are many concrete things that can be done to reduce, unnecessary use of PPE.”

WHO recommendations for safer and more environmentally sustainable waste practices include using eco-friendly packaging and shipping, safe and reusable gloves and medical masks, and investing in non-burn waste treatment technologies.

Source: Voice of America