Hospital lack waste treatment facilities<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Most hospitals in urban areas have failed to develop adequate
\nwaste processing facilities, with hazardous substances still
\ncontained within waste posing a serious danger to surrounding
\nresidential areas.<\/p>\n
Experts said that hospitals lacking proper waste disposal
\nfacilities could inadvertently pose a threat to the surrounding
\nenvironment, especially people residing in densely populated
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Aloysius Mariono, secretary of the Indonesian Hospital
\nHonorary and Ethics Council, cited the lack of space and funds as
\na frequent excuse for the shortage of facilities.<\/p>\n
Many hospitals or clinics cannot afford modern waste
\nprocessing or often invest their money in other areas, Aloysius
\ntold The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar on hospital
\nservices.<\/p>\n
\"They use simple and inexpensive technology. As a result, the
\nwaste is not processed properly and does not meet standards,\"
\nAloysius said.<\/p>\n
Kesuma Halim, director of Adi Husada Undaan Wetan Hospital in
\nSurabaya, also said during the seminar that many hospitals could
\nnot afford to allocate the space needed for waste processing
\nfacilities.<\/p>\n
Many hospitals in cities are situated in residential housing
\nor densely populated areas and therefore have limited space, he
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
Toxic substances are often an overlooked component of hospital
\nwaste. It can consist of both solid and liquid waste.<\/p>\n
Solid waste includes bandages, used syringes and human body
\ntissue. Liquid includes blood, disinfectants and body fluids.<\/p>\n
According to Kesuma, all health facilities are required to
\npossess proper Liquid Waste Processing Installations (IPAL) to
\nprocess liquid waste and an incinerator to destroy solid waste.<\/p>\n
Incinerators are very expensive and, as an alternative,
\nsmaller hospitals often pay larger hospitals to incinerate their
\nwaste, Kesuma said.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, an IPAL facility requires hundreds of square
\nmeters of space, which Kesuma said is difficult for hospitals in
\ncities. Consequently, existing installations were not set up
\nproperly.<\/p>\n
The end result is the processed liquid waste often containing
\nhazardous substances when it is streamed down to nearby rivers or
\ndrains.<\/p>\n
Kesuma suggested that if hospitals were unable to process
\nthere own waste properly, they should employ additional
\noutsourcing methods by contracting a waste processing company.<\/p>\n
Hospitals would then only need to provide temporary storage
\nbefore the waste is transported to a processing plant.<\/p>\n
Kesuma said hospitals would not be burdened with the need to
\nset aside a large amount of money or allocate space, and the
\nwaste would also be processed according to standards.<\/p>\n
Such practices are already found in hospitals in the
\nNetherlands and Japan.<\/p>\n
\"The system encourages hospitals to manage their waste
\nproperly ... they don't have to sneak out and throw their waste
\naway,\" Kesuma added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hospital-lack-waste-treatment-facilities-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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