Medical waste: DA calls upon Motsoaledi to ensure hospitals comply with Health Act
17 November 2015
I will today write to the Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, to request a meeting with him to discuss the failure by hospitals in the Free State, and possibly elsewhere, to properly manage their medical waste in terms of the National Health Act.
On an oversight visit to Mangaung on Friday 13 November, interviews with industry insiders in the medical waste removal business in the Province and an on-site inspection at National Hospital in Bloemfontein’, revealed that when it comes to medical waste management, hospitals routinely violate best-practise norms.
On my visit to the National Hospital, for example, it was horrifying to see a number of bags ripped open in the medical waste storage area. We were told by the hospital that this had been done by rats. Furthermore, the possibly infectious waste was strewn about on the floor.