TO BECOME medical tourism DESTINATION: Law-abiding hospitals boost Cebu's bid

CEBU, Philippines - The compliance of hospitals in Cebu to Republic Act 6969, otherwise known as the “Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990,” may push the province to achieve its bid as premier medical tourism destination.

Pollutions Abatement Systems Specialists Inc., (PASSI) said that major hospitals, except for one large hospital in Cebu, are already treating their hazardous wastes through its Autoclave facility, the common treatment facility for health care wastes located in Inayawan, Pardo.

PASSI was established in order to provide Cebu the right facility to treat hazardous solid wastes specifically that it is positioning to attract international patients, or medical tourists.

According to PASSI president Jolito Pogoy, the hospitals’ compliance to the law, is also due to the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)’s active stance to urge hospitals and clinics to obey the law.

PASSI has been operating the autoclave treatment facility in Inayawan, this city, since 2005 and had been treating hazardous wastes from hospitals, funeral parlors, and other healthcare establishments.

The autoclave machine kills viruses and bacteria in medical waste by employing heat. It is equipped with a metal chamber sealed by a charging door and surrounded by a steam jacket, then steam is introduced into the chamber using the required temperature to kill the bacteria.

Healthcare establishments may have segregated their hazardous health-care wastes from the general health care wastes but these are left untreated and disposed of in the municipal sanitary landfill or dumpsite for lack of an alternative treatment of disposal system.

The risk of transmitting diseases is aggravated by uncontrolled practice by waste workers and scavengers of collecting recyclables from hazardous health care wastes during storage, transport and disposal. This practice has unnecessarily exposed the general public, health care personnel and waste workers to maximum health risk from communicable diseases.

At present, the Autoclave facility is at least 30 percent utilized, as it can treat two tons of wastes a day. So far, Cebu health institutions, which subscribed to the treatment facility can only dispose an average of 650 kilos to 700 kilos a day.

Because of this, Pogoy said the company, which is run by mostly retired mechanical engineers in Cebu, is now moving towards encouraging other hospitals and clinics in other major cities and municipalities in Cebu province to have their wastes properly disposed of and treated.

Earlier, DENR former secretary Elisea Guzon said that medical institutions’ incompliant to R.A. 6969, may affect the province’s positioning to become a premier medical tourism hub.

Licensing is a critical mechanism that could push hospitals to set up good solid waste system. “LGUs must come in, and not just focus on hospitals, but also funeral parlors.”

“We have law and implementing rules and regulations, we have to implement it. Collaboration between various sectors, like DENR, DOH and LGUs would play a very important role,” said Gozun who is also the chairperson for Solid Waste Management Association, and Earth Day Network.

Recently, PASSI inked a partnership deal with the local government of Puerto Princesa in Palawan to treat the province’s hazardous wastes from public and private medical institutions, including funeral parlors.