About 95 percent of Savar’s hospitals do not have an environmental certificate.

Savar representative: There are more than hundred private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers in Savar. 95 percent of them do not have waste management. Also, hundreds of hospitals and clinics do not have environmental clearance.

According to the information of the Department of Environment, there are 115 private hospitals in Savar and only 10 clinics have the permission of the Department of Environment. In addition, eight hospitals and clinics in the upazila are running without the approval of the health department, the health department said.

Since the environmental clearance is not mandatory for obtaining the license of the Department of Health, for a long time the institutions have received the license of the Department of Health only by submitting a copy of the application for the clearance.

However, in a meeting of the Department of Health on March 16 last year, it was decided that no hospital, clinic, diagnostic center will be licensed and renewed without the permission of the Department of Environment.

Meanwhile, analysts have welcomed the initiative to make environmental clearance mandatory. In this regard, Professor Mashura Shammi of Environmental Science Department of Jahangirnagar University said that several issues are involved in environmental clearance. There are many things which are always neglected in our country. Every day in our country, huge amount of waste is generated from hospitals. But their environmental impact is not seen.

He also said that only a small part of the huge amount of waste being produced in hospitals and clinics is being treated. Most of the remaining waste, however, is disposed into the environment without treatment. Which is undoubtedly posing serious risk to our environment.

Sayemul Huda, Savar Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer, said, “Earlier, we used to scrutinize and recommend for granting licenses only if the institutions submitted copies of applications for environmental clearance along with other necessary documents. But from now on it will not be done without updated environmental clearance.

Zahirul Islam Talukder, Deputy Director of Dhaka District Environment Department, said that we issue environmental clearance only if hospitals and clinics fully comply with the mandatory requirements to get environmental clearance. Previously, hospitals and clinics applied to us and got the approval of the Health Department by submitting a copy of the application. Now some work is done. We license hospitals and clinics after due vetting.

Meanwhile, due to this initiative of the Department of Health, hospitals and diagnostic centers at the upazila level will face a lot of complications in obtaining and renewing licenses and the owners of private health care institutions think that obtaining licenses for many hospitals will become uncertain.

When contacted, Wakilur Rahman, the vice-president of Savar’s Private Hospital Owners Association and the owner of Savar’s Lab Zone Hospital and Diagnostic Center, said that among the other licenses and approvals that are mandatory for us in obtaining a license from the Department of Health, the most difficult one is to obtain an environmental clearance. Earlier the license could be obtained only by submitting a copy of the license application, now its updated license has been made mandatory.

He added, “I think since it has been made mandatory, it would be beneficial for us if the Environment Department makes it easier for hospitals to get clearance.” Otherwise, obtaining a license would be uncertain for many institutions, and this would also create a risk of health care disruption.