BEWARE OF WASTE DISPOSAL EPIDEMIC!

Afifah Suhaimi is Research Assistant at EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.

- AFIFAH SUHAIMI

While we are so busy mitigating the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is another epidemic that shouldn’t be taken lightly and neglected – the epidemic of waste disposal. And this is actually related to the Covid-19 pandemic. to combat the infection, but often highly contaminated after every use.

Waste disposal problems have risen dramatically as a result of the pandemic, with governments facing huge rises in medical waste arising from the heavy usage of disposable masks, gloves, personal protective equipment (PPE) and nasopharyngeal swabs – which are all necessary Technically, improper treatment and disposal of medical wastes pose serious hazards of secondary disease transmission.

According to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, 5.2 million individuals (including 4 million children) die every year from medical waste-related diseases.

But the Ministry of Health (MOH) assured us that the increased medical waste disposal following the Covid-19 pandemic in this country is still under control, where the process was carried out by the support management at the MOH based on existing guidelines.

However, how about us – the citizens? Are we taking it seriously when it comes to managing our Covid-19’s household wastes?

As reported by the Waste Management Association of Malaysia (WMAM), waste generation in residential areas increased by 20 to 30 percent since the implementation of the Movement Control Order.