The decision to award the collection and management of biomedical waste to a private agency might just be what the doctor ordered for Goa. For now though, this contract only concerns facilities within Panaji’s municipal limits, but hopefully this will set a precedent for many more contracts and decisions like this in the future.
As of April 1, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) will no longer be collecting biomedical waste. This is now the responsibility of the GHMS, the Goa Health Monitoring Services, primarily a health monitoring agency that offers services like health profiling and regular check-ups. While this is another feather in the cap for them, it does put the spotlight on whether certain processes and functions undertaken by government agencies should be outsourced to specialists; experts in the required field.
There are over 100 health care facilities within Panaji municipal limits. This includes 14 hospitals and 22 pathology labs. The biomedical waste from these facilities, which also includes dentists, general practitioners and even veterinary facilities, will be collected, for a cost. A monthly fee will be charged and the GHMS will go about their civic duty, so as to speak.
The reason this decision ticks all the boxes, is that it is done by professionals, people trained to handle such waste. There will be proper segregation done, the waste will be transported in a proper manner and even the disposal of the waste will be done using up-to-date scientific processes, which is a must today. Biomedical waste, if not disposed off properly, can become quite the hazard and this switch in responsibilities must be applauded.
With the GHMS also deciding to track and then collate information on the amount of biomedical waste in the area now, there will be some hope that soon even illegal disposals by parties and other such activities will be nipped in the bud. There is a dire need for the amounts of purchases, inventory and waste to tally, so as to accurately pinpoint discrepancies in the amount of waste disposed off by the medical industry. Since there are also plans to set up a special biomedical waste treatment plan the scope for this to be done properly is immense.
The government and the GHMS need to use this contract as an experiment to create better solutions for not just biomedical waste but waste from other industries, so as to set a standard for better industrial waste management. But even if that’s not done, just monitoring and managing biomedical waste in Goa will be a good thing. In a state that doesn’t really have a proper waste management system, this specialised contract does give plans to stabilise waste disposal and management a shot in the arm.
