COVID-19: Ogun Organises Training On Healthcare Waste Management

By ABIODUN JIMOH, ABEOKUTA

Not relenting on its oars, Ogun State Government has detected another way to reduce the community spread of coronavirus pandemic through healthcare waste management efforts.

Ola Oresanya, Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment and Head of the state Waste Management Authority, stated this at the training of health workers on proper healthcare waste management held at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) in Sagamu.

The training exercise has been scheduled to hold across all the three senatorial districts of the state, which will avail the health workers the needed knowledge on how not to be infected.

Oresanya emphasised that almost wastes in health institutions such as general and state hospitals, primary health centres, dental clinics, psychiatric hospitals and community health centres were toxic.

“There is the need to train health workers on proper sorting of wastes so that they will not be infected and in turn spread the pandemic in their various communities, thereby aiding its spread in the state.

“Henceforth, all these health related institutions must store their wastes in different waste bags to show how dangerous they are. Red bag for dangerous; yellow for infectious; brown for not too infectious, while black for ordinary wastes.

“I therefore urge them to comply with the new order so as not to get infected and help the state government in its quest to stop the community spread of Covid-19,” he appealed.

Similarly, he announced that from now, all health institutions in the state will be assigned with specialised waste managers for proper disposal of their wastes and urged them to stop dumping their waste into domestic or public wastes.

Meanwhile, two of the participants, Adetayo Jokotagba and Yetunde Ogundehinde praised the state government for the new healthcare management initiative, saying that it will curb the community spread of the pandemic.