MINISTER of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, has said every syringe used in this country must be traced, whether in the private or public sector.

He told a press conference, last Saturday, that his ministry will be monitoring what goes on beyond the walls of hospitals and laboratories and each patient must account for the number of syringes used.

Ramsammy spoke on the serious issue of bio-waste management, at his Hadfield Street, Georgetown office.

He said, since the recent reports of unauthorised dumping of medical waste on a city street, the Ministry has established an investigative team to address the concern and it was discovered that discarded bio-waste is emanating from no one particular place.

Ramsammy commended both public and private hospitals which, he said, in general, have continued to do a good in the disposal.

A previous release from the Ministry had reaffirmed that the medical waste did not come from Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) and highlighted that there was a reasonable level of certainty that the source was not the private hospitals, either.

However, Ramsammy cautioned, hospitals and laboratories not to become complacent, having received “a pat on the back.”

He said bio-medical waste must be treated differently from domestic waste and, in most cases, the former goes through a process before it is disposed but that does not remove all of the danger.

Ramsammy said the Ministry is going to address not only disinfecting the waste but its destruction.

He pointed out that there is a question of the security of the waste, once it leaves the source, as some containers have become useful in some households and are attractive to people.

Ramsammy said, in one instance, a person was arrested for taking the containers off of a truck.

He said, to ease this problem, the Ministry is investigating making the receptacles of less attraction for household use.

PONDERED
Ramsammy pondered what happens to needles private doctors use in offices and those used by private citizens in their homes.

He disclosed that, in Guyana, some 10,000 people are using syringes for insulin and questioned what happens to them.

According to Ramsammy, a system is in place at the Ministry, where the old supply must be returned before a new one is given and the Ministry does the discarding.

He suggested that private physicians must provide the Ministry with a record of their bio-waste management and pharmacies have to require that the old syringes be surrendered before new ones are sold.

Ramsammy said the Ministry is planning, by 2010, to print a new pamphlet which would be a “must have” for every doctor’s office and it is proposed that every new physician would receive a bio-waste disposal package as a condition of receiving a certificate.

The Ministry will put special focus on BMI (Body Mass Index) on Caribbean Wellness Day, Sunday, the theme for which is ‘Love that body…yours and mine’.