Toxic
medical
waste
incinerator
planned
in
Viet
Nam
NGHE
AN ¡ª
Central
Nghe
An
Province
will
build
a
modern
incinerator
to
treat
toxic
medical
waste
in
Vinh
City
and
adjacent
districts
during
2012-20.
The
local
Health
Department
will
submit
its
plan
to
the
provincial
People's
Committee
in
August,
said
Pham
Van
Thanh,
director
of
the
department.
If
approved,
the
project
is
expected
to
be
immediately
carried
out,
Thanh
added.
Construction
costs
are
to
be
covered
by
official
development
assistance
(ODA)
and
investment
from
local
companies,
he
said.
The
initiative
is
based
on
the
overload
of
current
toxic
medical
waste
incinerators.
The
new
facility
will
be
equipped
with
advanced
microwave
technology
and
have
a
daily
capacity
of
2.5-3
tonnes
in
solid
toxic
medical
waste.
Advanced
microwave
technology
is
expected
to
minimise
the
impact
of
environmental
pollution.
Le
Thi
Chau,
head
of
the
provincial
Paediatrics
Hospital's
Bacteria
Contamination
Control
Department,
said
the
hospital
had
no
specialised
incinerator
to
treat
its
toxic
medical
waste,
which
it
used
to
transport
to
the
Tuberculosis
and
Lung
Disease
Hospital
for
treatment.
Cao
Thi
Hue,
a
technician
at
the
tuberculosis
hospital,
said
that
since
November
2011,
it
has
treated
the
toxic
medical
waste
of
four
other
local
medical
centres,
which
has
led
to
the
frequent
breakdown
of
its
own
incinerator
that,
according
to
reports,
has
dealt
with
around
2.5
tonnes
of
waste
this
year.
"In
the
short
term,
we
will
build
medium-capacity
incinerators
in
districts
of
Vinh
City
to
counter
current
overload,"
Thanh
said.
We
will
make
every
effort
to
operate
medium-capacity
incinerators
as
soon
as
possible,
he
said.
According
to
statistics
from
the
local
Health
Department,
the
province
has
39
hospitals
with
more
than
7,300
sick
beds.
On
average,
the
hospitals
discharge
about
2.5-3
tonnes
of
toxic
medical
waste
a
day.
¡ª
VNS