Workshop On Bio-Medical Waste Management
The fact that Tamil Nadu has 11 units to dispose bio-medical waste reiterates the fact that the State was not only pioneering but was also showing the way forward for other States, observed R. Ramachandran, Member-Secretary of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). He was inaugurating a workshop on Bio-Medical Waste Management for medical officers and health workers of South India.The workshop was organised by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board in collaboration with CPR Environmental Education Centre, Chennai and Indian Medical Association, Coimbatore Branch.He also stressed the need for proper segregation of bio-medical waste.C. Kaliyaperumal, Additional Director, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, Regional Office, South Zone in his key note address stressed the importance of 3 “R”s in environmental protection Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Kamaraj, Assistant Environmental Engineer, TNPCB, Dr.N.V. Girish Kumar, Honarary Secretary of IMA also spoke. Dr.Sai Prasad, Training officer of TNPCB educating the gathering on the rules.
Most of the countries especially the developing nations are facing grim situation arising out of environmental pollution due to pathological waste arising from increasing population and the consequent rapid growth in the number of health care centres. Health care managers were facing challenges in designing and sustaining effective bio-medical waste management systems. Bio-medical waste management involved potential risks not only for the generators, but also for the general public – if it was not properly managed. The workshop was also an attempt to document and disseminate effective management practices found in South India in managing bio-medical waste.
