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Investigation into dumped syringes : Health Minister says culprit nabbed
Minister Ramsammy displays the type of container used to dispose syringes and other medical waste.
By Fareeza Haniff
The Ministry of Health has finally discovered who has been behind the dumping of syringes around the city, and as a result, an individual has been arrested for the unscrupulous act.
At a press briefing yesterday, Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy revealed that the investigations found that the containers in which the syringes were stored in seemed to be attractive to persons, who decided to make a profit out of it.
He noted that people would break the seals off the containers and dump the items wherever they see it fit.
Minister Ramsammy explained that when garbage collectors retrieve the medical waste from the hospitals, they are placed and sealed in special containers, and it was found that people take out the containers from the garbage truck when it stops to collect domestic waste in other areas.
The Health Minister refused to say where the person lives who was charged for the act, as he noted that he will leave that up to the police.
He did say however that the person was caught in the act of stealing the containers which had used syringes.
In this regard, Minister Ramsammy said his ministry will now place more attention on biomedical waste, as it relates to its security when it leaves the source from where it was generated.
“It turns out that there are some people who take it off the trucks… you know when the truck stops somewhere else to pick up other waste… these people break open the seal and they apparently sell the containers… I didn’t even realise that and so we have to pay greater attention to the security of these things,” Dr. Ramsammy said.
In this regard, he noted that the Health Ministry is in the process of making the containers look less attractive. According to Dr. Ramsammy, he is currently in discussion with the municipality and garbage collectors for a mechanism to be sorted out where biomedical waste has to be treated differently from domestic waste.
The Health Minister also stressed the point that there are 10,000 people who use insulin at home, and this is where he is concerned with the way in which they also dispose of their syringes and needles.
For those persons who get their supplies at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Ramsammy said that there is a system where in order for persons to get a fresh supply of insulin, they would have to return the needles that they used for the insulin.
Pharmacies will now be required to implement the same procedure, Minister Ramsammy said. “Every syringe that is used in the country, whether people get it from the public or private sector, must be tracked and this is an enormous responsibility.”
He has since instructed the CMO to ensure that there is a continued medical education unit before the end of the year for all physicians and their staff to be aware of the waste and how it is to be processed and disposed of.
A pamphlet will also be printed outlining the procedures, and according to Dr. Ramsammy, each and every doctor’s office will have one.
The Ministry of Health decided to launch an investigation into the dumping of syringes which was first reported by this newspaper through an alert citizen.
The first set of dumped syringes was found in Lamaha Street, while another set was discovered at Middle and Thomas Streets in proximity to the GPHC. A third set of items was found dumped in Camp Street, between Middle and Quamina Streets.
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