FG Set To Establish Incinerators In Medical Institutes

What a Medical Inc

The Federal Government is set to tackle medical waste management with the establishment of incinerators in all medical institutions in Nigeria. Making this disclosure was Mr Shaaibu Yakasai, Director of Pollution Control, Ecological Funds Office at a public enlightenment programme on Medical Waste Incinerator Project at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. Yakasai said that the aim of the proposal to establish incinerators at medical institutions was to ensure medical wastes are properly disposed for the safety of the people. He said that medical wastes are dangerous and hazardous to the environment; the reason for which they must be controlled using the waste incinerators.

According to him, medical waste incinerators would be installed in all the 36 medical institutions in Nigeria. He also disclosed that the public enlightenment programme, the first

of which came up at the UCH, would later be held in three other state capitals of the federation. “We intend to organise the sensitisation programme in four states, but we chose Ibadan in Oyo State first, because Ibadan has always been known as the first in all they do. However, we still intend to move on to Calabar, Keffi and Sokoto states,” he said.

Professor Temitope Alonge, UCH’s Chief Medical Director, said the programme’s aim was to allow the public to appreciate the intervention of the Ecological Fund Office, especially in the area of medical waste management. Alonge, who was represented by Dr Adefemi Afolabi, the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, said that the daily waste generation of UCH was in tonnes. “This is why we need to have a special way of disposing the wastes to avoid infection. At the moment, we receive wastes for disposal from other institutions in the state, but we believe that this new waste incinerator will go a long way in solving the problem in Ibadan,” he said.

Mr Augus Ozoka, the event manager of the programme, said that waste incinerators will ensure waste materials are burnt under controlled conditions. “Waste incinerators reduce waste deposited on landfills, hence reducing pests, insects and hazardous gases or diseases,” he declared.

Source: tribune.com