The World Health Organization has warned that the vast amount of waste generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is a threat to human health and the environment. According to the WHO report, tens of thousands of tons of additional medical waste have placed a huge burden on medical waste management systems.
Additional waste “threatens human health and the environment and indicates the urgent need to improve waste management,” the UN Health Agency said in a statement.
“As countries make every effort to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) to combat the crisis, less attention has been paid to the safe and sustainable disposal of medical waste from the pandemic,” the WHO said in a statement.
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The report examines 1.5 billion units (about 87,000 tons) of personal protective equipment purchased between March 2020 and November 2021 and shipped to countries through the UN system, which is a small part of the total worldwide. The WHO said that most of this equipment probably turned into waste.
“It is absolutely necessary that medical workers be provided with appropriate personal protective equipment. But it is also vital to ensure their safe use without harming the environment, “said Michael Ryan, WHO’s director of emergency management.
In addition, more than 140 million test kits have been shipped, which could generate 2,600 tons of mostly plastic non-infectious waste and 731,000 liters of chemical waste. The report states that about 97% of plastic waste is incinerated after testing. And the first 8 billion doses of vaccine worldwide have generated 144,000 tons of additional waste, such as syringes, needles and protective boxes.
The WHO does not recommend the use of gloves for vaccine injections, but the report says this seems to be common practice. The report states that in terms of volume, gloves account for the largest share of personal protective equipment waste among all items purchased at the United Nations.
Earlier, the DIP wrote that “the UN has called for the immediate lifting of all travel bans due to their inefficiency.”