Small scale labs request medical waste disposal facility from govt

CHENNAI: The laboratories in Tamil Nadu urge the State government to facilitate medical waste disposal with a fixed monthly fee. They say that interference from private companies in the handling and disposal of medical waste. They request the Tamil Nadu Government to fix medical waste disposal fee at Rs 500 per month for small blood testing laboratories.

The request is made to the government of Tamil Nadu to implement medical waste disposal plan on their own and not private companies on outsourcing basis.

Government should stop the pharmacies from conducting blood tests for various diagnostic procedures since they are not equipped to handle and dispose the medical waste.

The government doctors association recently raised the concern over regularising medical waste disposal with a specific amount being charged on a monthly basis with a specific cost being charged for all scales of laboratories.

"There are variable fees being charged in different districts of Tamil Nadu. As a result, small blood testing centers are affected because the charges are not based on the quantity or the number of tests being conducted.

Therefore, Tamil Nadu Government should fix medical waste disposal fee at Rs 500 per month for small blood testing laboratories," said Dr G R Ravindranath, secretary of Doctor's Association for Social Equality.

"Some of these laboratories conduct tests on small scale and are charged a heavy amount and the same cost is charged for the full fledged laboratories that conduct tests for multiple specialties. Thus, it impacts the small scale laboratories as the cost is burdening on them," he said.