Nearly 200 tons of healthcare waste were collected from Covid-19 institutional quarantine centres distributed across the Sultanate for treatment and safe disposal last year, according to Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (be’ah), the entity overlooking solid waste management services in the Sultanate.
This is in addition to an estimated 4,500 tons of healthcare waste collected from all manner of healthcare institutions – public and private – located across the Sultanate, be’ah noted in a new report. Containing potentially hazardous infectious and even carcinogenic material, the waste was treated and disposed of in line with internationally accepted practices at be’ah’s three facilities located at Al Multaqa (Muscat Governorate), Liwa (North Al Batinah Governorate) and Thamrait (Dhofar Governorate).
“Due to its nature, healthcare waste poses a significant risk of infection, contamination, and injury. It is generated from hospitals, health and dental clinics, blood banks and veterinary facilities, as well as medical research institutions and laboratories,” said be’ah in its report. “Healthcare waste can contain infectious agents, sharp objects, toxic material, hazardous chemicals or pharmaceuticals, that can be radioactive and genotoxic.”
Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic early last year, be’ah said it has initiated a special contingency plan, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, aimed at tackling new waste streams linked to the pandemic. In addition to ramping up the frequency of healthcare waste collection from healthcare institutions all over the country, the state-owned entity also expanded its coverage to include government-designated Covid-19 institutional isolation and quarantine centres across the Sultanate. As many as 40 such centres were in operation at the peak of the pandemic, says be’ah.
Significantly, be’ah flagship facility at Al Multaqa handled around two-thirds (3,120 tons) of the total healthcare waste generated nationally last year. Next came Liwa with 1,013 tons, followed by Thamrait with 476 tons.
Given that 15 – 20 per cent of healthcare waste is potentially hazardous to human and environmental health, the entire lot is handled, treated and disposed of per international standards recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“be’ah’s facilities use incineration and autoclave techniques,” the entity – part of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) - explained. “The autoclave technology, deemed as an eco-friendly technology, shreds all waste and sterilises it to eliminate all pathogens to prepare it for safe disposal in engineered landfills. Incineration whereas, can be used to treat all types of HCW streams. be’ah, however, uses this process to mainly treat pharmaceutical products, cytotoxic and genotoxic waste etc.”
As part of its integrated healthcare waste management system, be’ah has adopted modern practices for the management of carcinogenic waste (genotoxic and cytotoxic) in Oman. This includes proper segregation of such critical waste streams, which are safely disposed of at treatment facilities. Specialised purple-coloured bins – the recognised international waste segregating code for cytotoxic and genotoxic waste – have been introduced at The Royal Hospital and the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, according to be’ah.
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