Vijayawada: In the wake of the shocking biomedical waste handling incident at Vijayawada Government General Hospital (GGH), the Medical and Health Department has directed all teaching hospitals in Andhra Pradesh to submit detailed reports on their existing biomedical waste management systems.
The action follows instructions issued by Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav after a severed human leg, removed during surgery at Vijayawada GGH, was reportedly carried away by a stray dog. Acting on the minister’s directions, Director of Medical Education (DME) Dr Radhika Reddy instructed superintendents of teaching hospitals to furnish comprehensive reports by Monday on the handling, storage, and disposal of biomedical waste.
Officials have been asked to provide details on the condition and maintenance of biomedical waste storage rooms, safety mechanisms used to keep entry points secured, and the validity of approvals issued by the State Pollution Control Board. The DME also ordered the installation and monitoring of CCTV surveillance systems at biomedical waste storage facilities.
Hospitals were further directed to explain the process of transporting biomedical waste from operation theatres, laboratories, and other departments to storage rooms, along with furnishing details of vehicle-based disposal systems and supporting documentation.
The DME stressed that hospital superintendents must personally monitor biomedical waste disposal procedures every day in accordance with the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016. Hospitals were also instructed to ensure the timely clearance of waste from storage rooms to avoid health hazards.
In addition, the department directed hospitals to train doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, laboratory and operation theatre staff, security staff, and medical students in biomedical waste segregation, colour-coded disposal systems, and safe transportation practices.
Meanwhile, the Vijayawada GGH administration issued a show-cause notice to the Resident Medical Officer (RMO), citing supervisory lapses linked to the incident. A sanitation worker has been removed from duties, while notices were also served to the private agency responsible for biomedical waste transportation and management at the hospital.
