Medical Waste In Bali Reaches 3 Tons A Day During The COVID-19 Pandemic

DENPASAR - Head of Bali Province Health Service (Kadiskes), dr. Ketut Suarjaya said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bali produced 3 tons of medical waste a day.

"In Bali as a whole there are 3 tons a day and it has been managed by each health facility. There are other processors who send the waste to West Java to manage the waste", said Suarjaya, quoted by Antara, Friday, February 5.

He said the 3 tons of medical waste generated during this pandemic period consisted of medical waste for handling COVID-19 and non-COVID-19. One of them, syringes, medicines, Personal Protective Equipment (APD), and masks.

The handling of medical waste has been handled by a third party and then sent to West Java. He said, when referring to standards, in Bali, there is no suitable place for treating medical waste.

"The medical waste is handled, put together, and then a third party handles it and sent to West Java. We have secured it according to standards because it includes Toxic and Hazardous Waste (B3) waste", he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Bali Representative Ombudsman Umar Ibnu Alkhatab said that the rapid assessment regarding the processing of B3 waste from COVID-19 medical waste had followed the procedure. However, at this time centralized processing is needed so that continuous supervision can be carried out.

"So far, the processing has been carried out systematically and follows procedures, but it needs centralized processing so that continuous supervision can be carried out. So far, B3 waste processing including COVID-19 waste has been carried out by private companies outside Bali," he said.

According to him, until now there have been no health facilities in Bali that have been in the spotlight, including illegal shelters.

Meanwhile, the recording of medical waste has been carried out by each health facility. During the monitoring of the Bali Ombudsman, records of medical waste are available, it's just that storage is still constrained.

"In our monitoring, there is a record of the waste, only the problem is in the storage area, some of which still do not meet the standard for storing medical waste. Then, we ask for a standard storage area even though it is simple", said Umar.