#GettingClosertoYourMegaProject
“Cleanliness is half of faith.” Prophet Muhammad(PBUH)
Islam lays great emphasis on cleanliness and purity, both physically and spiritually. However, this fundamental tenet of our faith, unfortunately, is not reflected in our society practically. Serious efforts are required to be made on our behalf individually as well as collectively in order to make this valuable principle of Islam part of our lives.
Problem Statement:
Due to lack of awareness of different types of hospital waste and their disposal procedures, serious diseases are spreading day by day.
In Pakistan, most of the waste is burned, dumped or buried, causing serious health and environmental threats.
Theory of Change:
There is a lack of training of hospital staff and workers who collect and dispose of the hospital waste. This is a major concern at every healthcare facility that infectious waste should be segregated from other waste as it may cause the spread of infectious diseases e.g. Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
There is a dire need of proper be implemented at all healthcare facilities of the country to avoid being victim to deadly infectious diseases.
According to recent study almost 325 people die everyday due to complications caused by Hepatitis.
Infectious waste mainly consist of discarded blood, sharps, unwanted microbiological cultures and stocks, identifiable body parts (including those as a result of amputation), other human or animal tissue, used bandages and dressings, discarded gloves, other medical supplies that may have been in contact with blood and body fluids, and laboratory waste that exhibits the characteristics described above. Waste sharps include potentially contaminated used (and unused discarded) needles, scalpels, lancets and other devices capable of penetrating skin. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomedical_waste#:~:text=Examples%20of%20infectious%20waste%20include,been%20in%20contact%20with%20blood)
Such waste should be kept in wards in separate bins, collected and disposed according to the guidelines of WHO.
There must be 3 colored bins(red, white and yellow)in every hospital ward ward under the Punjab Healthcare Rules 2014.
Proper training should be given to staff for efficient disposal of waste as described below.
Above is the detailed process flow following the protocols for effective collection, transportation and disposal of hospital waste.
Glimpse of My Meetings and Visits to Different Health Care Facilities.
Meeting with the medical superintendent is the first step towards implementation of infection control protocols at respective health care facilities. Their feedback is highly responsive regarding the infection control program and showed dire need to be implemented at all health care facilities.
Visits of the wards to see ground realities is an important task to know about the real situation.
In the end, I would like to share my experience during meetings with healthcare authorities and staff. They all laid emphasis that there is always room for improvement and they are trying their best within limited resources to perform their duties in the best interest of the society.
