Minister for
State
Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), Xie Zhenhua,
admitted that China is backward in its facilities to handle medical
waste, particularly during the outbreak of SARS this year. But he
said that the government will invest 7 billion yuan in the coming
two to three years to solve the problem.
He
made the remarks at a press conference sponsored by the State
Council Information Office when asked what problems were exposed in
terms of medical waste disposal and disposal of sewage during the
SARS epidemic and what measures the environmental protection
departments had adopted?
Xie said, "The infrastructure facilities in China are really very
backward. In normal situations, China produces 650,000 tons of
medical waste every year, that is 1,700 tons per day. The outbreak
of SARS brought about more medical waste than normal, which put
great pressure on pollution prevention work. Faced with this new
situation, the SEPA issued five notices including strengthening
administration and supervision over medical sewage and waste in
hospitals, providing some standards and technical requirements, and
teaching how to handle it in the case of emergencies."
In
addition to this, the central government assigned some money to
various localities to purchase some qualified vehicles to transport
medical sewage and garbage to be burnt. So after all the hard work,
at all levels, there is now no further SARS transmission due to
medical wastes, he said.
Xie said that considering the lagging infrastructure, the State
Council has ordered SEPA and the State Development and Reform
Commission to make a medical waste disposal scheme. In the
following two or three years, the government will invest over 7
billion yuan (US$ 846 million) to gather medical waste in different
regions for disposal. The scheme has been listed on schedule, and
ready for implementation. In addition, the dangerous waste disposal
has been also scheduled for discussion.
Xie said that the 10th Five-year Plan (2001-2005) had outlined the
disposal plan of dangerous waste, which requires investment of over
20 billion yuan (US$2.41 billion). The measures to contain SARS
have also promoted the disposal of medical waste and dangerous
waste.
At
the press conference, Xie released the 2002 Report on China's
Environmental Status.
(China.org.cn June 5, 2003)