Authorities in HCM City this month are conducting an inspection of medical waste-treatment management at local health facilities.
The inspection is being led by an interdisciplinary inspection group from the Health Department, the Environment and Natural Resources Department and Environmental Police.
Inspectors are checking the quality of waste-treatment systems and will fine medical establishments that do not have them.
Huynh Van Biet, deputy director of the Health Department, said inspectors would also issue warnings to hospitals and clinics that had not installed waste treatment systems or to those that had systems that did not meet standards.
Another inpection would be launched in September to recheck the current violators, he said.
If the violators have not installed a waste-treatment system by then, they will be forced to stop operations temporarily.
The city’s Health Department said there were 52 public hospitals in HCM City, 31 of which have medical waste-treatment systems that meet standards.
Of the 322 medical stations in wards and communes across the city, 157 have installed medical waste-treatment systems.
The Health Department plans to complete installation of the systems for the remaining stations this month.
Of the 285 private medical establishments in the city, most of them do not have waste-treatment systems.
