Wastewater treatment zone in a central hospital (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Standard medical wastewater treatment systems have beenset up in only 60 percent of total 13,000 healthcare clinics nationwide, saidDeputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long at a conference held in Hanoi onMarch 30.
Investment and upgrades are still underway in other hospitals with rudimentarytreatment system, Long added, highlighting that a shortage of capital,hospitals’ concern and social attention is the main barrier.
It is necessary to build a standout mechanism for the rental of medicalwastewater treatment services as the Ministry of Health (MoH) has set a targetthat wastewater treatment facilities will be installed in all hospitals by 2020to protect the environment.
According to head of the MoH’s Health Environment Management Agency Nguyen ThiLien Huong, only 62 percent of central hospitals have quality treatment systemswhile the figures in provincial hospitals and district hospitals are 59.3 percentand 65.9 percent, respectively.
Thus, there is a large amount of hospital waste water discharged into theenvironment daily, Huong stressed while pointing out that limited capacity tomanage wastewater treatment system has resulted in inefficient operation of thefacilities.
Conference participants discussed the allocation of capital for renting medicalwastewater treatment services, waste water treatment costs and maintenancecosts.
According to the Prime Minister’s related draft decision, state-owned hospitalsare allowed to rent medical wastewater treatment services to ensure that wastewateroutput meets environmental standards. The rental cost is included in medicalexamination expenses.-VNA
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