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International Technical Collaboration to Help Nepal's Hospitals
Vanasthali, Nepal — Health Care Foundation Nepal (HECAF) welcomes new impetus to their campaign as a result of the current visit by a technical expert from Health Care Without Harm, the global campaign for environmentally friendly health care.
"With a good health care waste management system in place, everyone benefits."
Director, HECAF Health
Care Waste Mgmt. Prog.
For the last 10 days HECAF and Health Care Without Harm have been visiting hospitals and potential partners in Kathmandu and Pokhara who are interested in reducing inadvertent impacts on human health and the environment. Representing Health Care Without Harm in this endeavor is Ruth Stringer, International Science and Policy Coordinator. HECAF is represented by Mahesh Nakarmi, Director of its Health Care Waste Program in Vanasthali.
The focus of activities will be to reduce the problems of medical waste, mercury-containing and PVC medical devices. According to Mahesh Nakarmi, medical waste in Nepal is often not treated properly so it can present a hazard to hospital staff, the community and the environment. However, most waste generated by a hospital is not harmful — normal paper, plastic and food waste, and HECAF has been working with hospitals to help them segregate and dispose of this waste properly for over three years. "With a good health care waste management system in place, everyone benefits," says Nakarmi.
HECAF and Health Care Without Harm will be providing technical advice on non-burn technologies to disinfect the small percentage of the waste which can carry disease. "Sharps and infectious waste are potentially very dangerous, but health care waste managers can use non-incineration methods to disinfect medical waste before it is recycled or introduced into normal municipal waste. These safer methods are well established in other countries and we are very pleased to see that Nepal is starting to adopt these practices," said Stringer.
As well as working on health care waste, HECAF is a member of a global initiative to replace medical devices that contain mercury, which is co-led by the World Health Organization and Healthcare Without Harm. Mercury is a known neurotoxin and safe and reliable non-mercury alternative thermometers and blood pressure devices are available.
PVC medical devices often contain a toxic additive called DEHP which can leach out during use. Government agencies in the US and Europe have expressed concern about their potential impact on patients and several agencies, including the American Medical Association, recommend alternatives be used where possible.
It is planned that the conversations initiated today will evolve into long-term multi-stakeholder partnerships to help make Nepal's hospitals clean and safe, while at the same time also minimizing the impact the health care industry makes on the environment.
For more information, please contact Mahesh Nakarmi, Director of HECAF's Health Care Waste Management Program at 9851925549 or 436-0876.
Additional Resources:
The Health Care Foundation Nepal (HECAF) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization working in health, environment, and disaster management. HECAF established the National Kidney Center, where it pioneered the established safe health care waste management systems and installed the first non burn medical waste sterilization facility in the country. The National Kidney centre is also proud to be mercury free.
Health Care Without Harm is an international coalition of more than 500 organizations in 53 countries, working to transform the health care sector worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. Visit the HCWH website for more information.
