The global outbreak of the Coronavirus has led to a rapid growth of number of infected patients worldwide. While it is crucial to provide necessary health-care products and equipment such as needles, syringes, and gloves, this has led to the potential increase in the resulting health-care waste produced. According to Waste360.com, “the rapid infection growth in Wuhan has brought three to four times the amount of infectious medical waste, and the original medical waste disposal facilities in the city have been unable to meet this surge of medical waste, which creates further risks.” It is undeniable that hygiene should be the utmost priority of all individuals worldwide, especially in this grave situation of a potential pandemic. However, today, this report will focus on the possible hazards imposed to the environment from byproducts of healthcare and medical activities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health-care waste as “waste generated by health care activities including a broad range of materials, from used needles and syringes to soiled dressings, body parts, diagnostic samples, blood, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and radioactive materials.” If these health-care waste are not managed properly, this can impose danger upon individuals who come in contact with these waste, such as health care workers, waste handlers, patients, and the community on a larger scale. Hazardous health-care waste constitutes 15% of the entire health-care waste. These waste may be infectious, radioactive, or toxic and may present dangers within communities when not managed properly. One of the biggest environmental impacts from this is the potential air pollution when incinerating the waste and a transfer of toxic substances or drug-resistant microorganisms released from the health facilities to the local environment. Exposure to toxic substances during the incineration process may also harm workers involved in the management procedure. Another disposal method of utilizing poorly constructed landfill may potentially result in contamination of drinking, surface, and groundwater, suggesting that a poor management of these waste can lead to possibilities of the disease spreading to individuals who come in contact with contaminated water. 

The issue of health-care waste management may not seem as a pressing issue since it is not easily noticed in our everyday lives. According to the WHO Factsheet, among the estimated 16 billion injections administered worldwide, not all needles and syringes are properly disposed after usage. Moreover, a joint WHO and UNICEF assessment in 2015 revealed that only 58% of sampled facilities from 24 countries had adequate systems for safe disposal of health care waste. The lack of proper waste management facilities is even more prevalent in countries with low and middle income countries. This implies that the importance of proper health-care waste management roots from not only protecting our environment but also preventing the wider spread of infectious diseases. In a severe outbreak spreading rapidly worldwide, it is imperative to raise awareness on proper waste management and promoting that better hygiene comes with sustainability. 

Works Cited

05, Waste360 Staff | Mar. “Coronavirus Leads Gient to Build Medical Waste Treatment Plant.” Waste360, 5 Mar. 2020, www.waste360.com/medical-waste/coronavirus-leads-gient-build-medical-waste-treatment-plant.

“Health-Care Waste.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/health-care-waste.

“Health-Care Waste.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 13 Sept. 2016, www.who.int/topics/medical_waste/en/.