VietNamNet Bridge - Many healthcare establishments that skip necessary procedures in treating waste could face closure.

According to the Ministry of Health’s Environment Management Agency, there are 13,500 healthcare establishments, including 1,400 establishments at district and higher levels, and 11,000 commune establishments. 

The centers discharge 450 tons of waste a day, including 47 tons of hazardous solid waste and 125,000 cubic meters of waste water that needs special treatment. 

There are 13,500 healthcare establishments, including 1,400 establishments at district and higher levels, and 11,000 commune establishments.

Besides, there is a huge volume of waste from 1,000 preventive medicine centers, medical training establishments, drug manufacturers and private healthcare centers.

According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, only 60 percent of healthcare establishments have standard waste treatment systems. 

This means that a big volume of medical waste still cannot be treated properly and discharged in the environment, which serve as sources for spreading disease.

However, it seems that medical centers don’t pay appropriate attention to the treatment.

 “About 400 hospitals need further investment or have to upgrade waste water treatment systems. Meanwhile, the hospitals having systems still lack qualified staff and money to run the systems,” Long said.

An independent survey conducted by the Institute for Occupational Health and the Environment on 100 hospitals throughout the country found that the biggest problem lies in the medical waste treatment. 

Hospitals employ untrained workers to run the systems. As a result, the waste water output cannot meet the requirements.

Nguyen Viet Hung, head of the Infection Control Department under the Bach Mai Hospital, commented that if using nurses and technical officers for treating waste, the results will not be as good as expected.

An expert said that state management agencies often send staff to hospitals to inspect the waste treatment there. 

However, most inspectors deal with hospitals with a ‘light hand’ by just ‘slapping them on the wrist’. If they judge that hospitals are not in accordance with current laws, they would have to force the hospitals to shut down.

In 2010-2015, Hanoi equipped medical waste incinerators for 16 hospitals in the city. Other medical establishments sign contracts on collecting waste with environment service companies. 

The city also allocated funds for the building of liquid waste treatment systems at 30 hospitals.

However, many problems still exist. Deputy director of the Hanoi Medical Department Nguyen Van Dung said the waste water systems at 11 hospitals, which were built many years ago, have become degraded. 

In 2013, when the PM released Decision 1788 on the master plan on medical establishments seriously affecting the environment, 172 establishments were blacklisted. 

It was expected that 106 establishments must be removed from the list by 2016, but in reality, only 56 have been excluded so far.

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