ADJUMANI.

For the past four months, support staff in the hospital have been dumping medical waste within the enclosure of the incinerator rather than burning it.

The hospital administrator, Mr Michael Ojja, told Daily Monitor on Wednesday the incinerator resigned because of continuous burning of collected waste from the hospital.

“The waste has grown due to the overwhelming number of admissions and individuals visiting the hospital section. However, we must find solutions to protect the staff and environment,” Ojja said.

He said the incinerator was too small to dispose of the hospital’s voluminous medical waste.

Patients admitted to the general ward next to the incinerator expressed fear of ailments arising from bad disposal of toxic medical waste.

According to the 2013-2014 yearly health industry performance report, Adjumani Hospital registers 11,731 in-patients, 83,953 outpatients and 1,695 deliveries.

Scientific facts
Incineration of heavy metals or materials with high metal content (in particular lead, mercury and cadmium) releases toxic metals to the environment and the burnt medical waste contains micro-organisms that are potentially harmful to human beings, according to WHO.