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Bir Hospital to Become Mercury-free Zone
Bir Hospital is to be developed into a "model hospital". The goal is to render the country’s oldest hospital a mercury-free and safe injection zone within a year.
Mahesh Nakarmi, director of HECAF-Nepal said as a first attempt, the hospital has declared the male medical ward a "model ward" in waste disposal.
Mahesh Nakarmi, director of Health Care Foundation Nepal (HECAF-Nepal) said as a first attempt, the hospital has declared the male medical ward a ‘model ward’ in waste disposal.
The hospital is working to treat health care waste, including sharp, non-sharp, blood, body parts, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and radioactive materials.
After the male medical ward, the hospital will upgrade the post operation and male surgical ward. “It will take a year to fix the system in the entire hospital,” said Nakarmi, adding that they will hand over the system to the hospital authority upon completion of the project.
Around 40 per cent of the hospital area is occupied by scrap piled up there for the last several years. The scrap piles can be seen on the terrace, corners of every ward and stairs. The problem arose after the hospital stopped auctioning scrap five years ago. The hospital has a provision of calling auction every two years.
The hospital brought two autoclave machines a year ago to dispose waste, however, it has been lying defunct due to lack of guidance on use, added Nakarmi. An autoclave machine can destroy 15 kg waste in 30 minutes at 121 degree Celsius. The system is being developed as per World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
Around 332.9 kg waste is generated at the hospital every day, of which around 260.55 kg is risk waste and 72.42 kg is non-risk.
Risk waste includes contaminated and sharp waste.
The average occupancy rate of the hospital during the assessment period (November 2009 to February 2010) was 67 per cent. However, risk waste has drastically reduced to 84.44 kg per day after the separation of waste by assessors. According to WHO guideline, infectious waste and sharp waste should be within the range of 22 per cent and three per cent respectively.
“We used to separate risk and non-risk waste at the source before introducing the system, the waste used to be disposed in some containers of Kathmandu Metropolitan City,” said Sarita Shrestha, housekeeping in-charge and hospital waste management coordinator.
The hospital used to pay Rs 36 thousand per month to a private organisation for disposing waste. During strikes, the hospital faces problem of foul smell as the waste is not disposed for several days, added Shrestha.
HECAF-Nepal is also conducting a survey on the amount of mercury present in the air, water and land in the hospital. Bir Hospital plans to replace mercury thermometer with the digital type by the end of this year.
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