By Esther Tiemo
Health care experts have decried the increasing occurrence of micro plastic damages in the environment stressing that it is one of the major treat to human existence.
Speaking at a conference in Abuja themed
“A MULTISECTORAL Dialogue on Managing health care waste and plastic pollution in Nigeria “ a cross section of health care experts also noted that the indiscriminate dumping of plastics has led to major plastic pollution in the environment especially drinking water sources.
Speaking with Journalist on the sidelines of the conference, Converner Stewards of the environment on sustainable change initiative, Adiza Ujo stated that it had become imminent to dialogue on Managing Healthcare and plastic waste.
According to her two different studies were conducted in 2019 on healthcare waste using 30 healthcare facilities as a case study.
She further stated that the studies focused on how plastic waste can be managed and the extent of contamination of the source of water in Abuja.
‘’We are here to talk about the issues of plastic waste and pharmaceutical waste because the discovery of pharmaceutical waste and plastic waste in our water ways has necescitated that we speak with our stakeholders and find out how we can address this issue.
“In 2019 we carried out a survey with the support of German Green foundation on pharmaceutical waste in our water ways on Usuma Dam.Also the Japan International Corporation Agency carried out a survey in thirty different healthcare facilities and we discovered that everyone is affected by this because this waste gets into our water channels which is harmful to health”. she explained.
Ujo however called for measures to be put in place to stop the contininuous contamination of our water source especially in areas prone to open defecation.
Also speaking was Dr Ifenna Ilechukwu a Micro plastic pharmaceutical analysis who stated that despite efforts from a variety of stakeholders in Nigeria to curb plastic waste pollution, the number of plastic waste in the environment continues to increase with no clear data on plastic waste.
He called for synergy between the government and private sector,stating that this will provide a lasting solution that will ensure that health care waste is managed properly along the entire value chain.
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