PANAJI
With the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) taking a decision to stop collection of biomedical waste from the municipal area from April 1, Goa Health Monitoring Services (GHMS) will now be collecting the waste from health facilities in the area.
The decision was taken in a meeting held with Health Secretary Sudhir Mahajan, officials from the Department of Health Services (DHS), Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), Goa Medical College (GMC), Manipal Hospital, GHMS and representatives of hospitals and health facilities from the city.
Speaking to The Goan GHMS official Dr Devdutt Sail said the agency had decided to engage in dealing with the biomedical waste for the city and in time extend it to the rest of the state.
“The health secretary has been informed about the decision to engage and authorize GHMS in the collection, documentation, segregation, transportation and scientific disposal of biomedical waste for the CCP area. We’ve set a particular monthly fee that each health facility will have to pay for the waste to be collected from them,” he said.
In the area of Panjim, there are a total of 112 health care facility including 14 hospitals, 22 pathology labs, 33 dentistry, 40 general practitioners and three veterinary clinics.
Pathology labs will be charged Rs 1,200 per month, dentists will be charged Rs 900, general practitioners and vet clinics will be charged Rs 700 per month. For hospitals with 1 to 10 beds the agency will charge Rs 1,500 per month. Those with 11 to 30 beds will be charged Rs 6 per bed (on 80 percent occupancy), while hospitals with 31 to 50 beds will be charged Rs 6.5 per bed (on 80 percent occupancy) and hospitals with above 50 beds will be charged Rs 7 per bed (on 80 percent
occupancy).
In addition to the collection of biomedical waste, the agency has also decided to set up an online system of tracking how much waste is collected from each facility. Once collected, the agency will then segregate it and based on the type of waste will be treated at GMC or at the Manipal Hospital. The government is currently working on setting up of a biomedical waste treatment plant at Kundaim that is expected to be ready in two years. Dr Devdutta said he hoped the plan for biomedical would serve as an example that could be extended to the rest of the state. “This is a solution for the CCP but the same model can be implemented for other parts of the state as well,” he said.
