Meru residents are exposed to harmful waste after Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital started dumping and burning wastes in the open.
The hospital has been burning medical wastes near the mental health institution.
As per the Kenyan healthcare waste disposal guidelines, yellow and red bags are meant to be used for containing infectious and highly infectious wastes respectively.
This waste matter is supposed to be treated by incineration before being disposed in the open.
The yellow bags contain wastes like gloves, body fluids, dressings and used specimens, whereas red ones contain laboratory specimens.
Part of the guidelines suggest that waste storage area should be secured and impermeable having a hard-standing floor with good drainage which should b easy to clean and disinfect.
The hospital’s incinerator was demolished by a contractor, who was building a ward at the site.
Meru County Health Executive – Mutuma Misheck, directed the contractor to build a new incinerator in two weeks.
“I have also given orders to the facility to transport its waste to other facilities that have an incinerator for proper burning and disposal.” Mutuma Said.
According to Meru County Integrated Development Plan 2018-2022, the county government plans to build 10 incinerators at a tune of KSh100 million.
