Currently, the health care network in Hue City has 8 general/specialized hospitals, 9 medical centers, and a series of clinics and commune health stations. Notably, the non-public health system has also developed strongly with more than 500 specialized clinics. This scale has resulted in a "huge" amount of medical waste. Data in 2024 shows that facilities under the Department of Health alone discharged more than 22 tons of infectious waste and nearly half a ton of non-infectious hazardous waste.
Hue City has many medical facilities so the amount of medical waste generated is very large. Illustrative photo.
Waste classification at source: "Key" to safety process
To effectively control this waste source, Mr. Tran Kiem Hao, Director of the Hue City Department of Health, said that the Department has set a prerequisite requirement to strictly implement waste classification at the source. In each department and room of medical facilities, waste must be clearly separated into groups: general waste, infectious waste, non-infectious waste and recyclable waste.
"We identify waste classification at the point of generation as the most important link to prevent the risk of cross-infection," Mr. Hao emphasized. At the same time, the Department of Health also regularly integrates medical waste management into periodic meetings, requiring units to strictly comply with Circular No. 20/2021/TT-BYT.
Most units have been fully equipped with packaging and standard storage equipment. To ensure the final treatment, 100% of hospitals, medical centers and clinics have signed transportation and treatment contracts with environmental treatment units. Particularly for medical stations, the process is implemented more strictly: hazardous waste is transported to the Medical Center for collection before being handed over to a professional treatment unit.
Grassroots model and efforts to digitize management
At the grassroots level, this work is also given special attention. Mr. Nguyen Van Vy, Director of Huong Thuy Town Medical Center, shared that the unit receives more than 100,000 medical examinations each year, so infection control is a vital task.
"The center has invested in a Japanese AAO wastewater treatment system with a capacity of 150 m3/day and built a standard waste storage facility. The collection process is carried out daily by a team of nurses, ensuring that waste is classified by color and in the correct location right from the time it is generated," Mr. Vy added.
In addition to the initiative of the facilities, the supervisory role of the management agency has also been strengthened. The Department of Health has assigned the City Center for Disease Control (CDC) to be the focal point for inspection and guidance at lower levels, and regularly coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Environment to organize inter-sectoral inspections.
However, the leaders of the Hue City Department of Health also frankly acknowledged the remaining difficulties. Currently, the process of monitoring from generation to treatment is still mainly done manually through books, without specialized management software. In addition, the transportation of waste from remote medical stations to the center is also hindered due to the small amount of generation but large geographical distance.
To overcome this, in the coming time, Hue's health sector will promote research and study of management software models from other localities for application. At the same time, encourage medical facilities to proactively digitize records and documents, towards a more modern, transparent and safe medical waste management process.
Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/hue-siet-quy-trinh-quan-ly-chat-thai-y-te-chu-dong-ngan-ngua-nguy-co-lay-nhiem-169251120165645353.htm
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