Guest speaker Jayne Pilot

Posted by Jayne Pilot
 
Our Health Matters
 
Jayne Pilot, member of the Brampton Rotary Club spoke September 12th, 2016 on “Our Health Matters”.  Her background includes past District Manager for Canada with Browning Ferris Industries in the early 90’s, setting up medical waste disposal, starting a number of international firsts tied with disposal of needles and drugs through the pharmacies, international waste disposal and medical waste disposal.
 
Last year she wrote a white paper reviewing the status of medical waste disposal in Ontario and Canada.  She shared the stats from the Green Hospital Scorecard report outlining that 59% of the waste from hospitals was going to landfills, 34% were diverted wastes (recycle, reuse and compost) and only 7% was treated as biomedical waste. 
 Biomedical waste is regulated to minimize spread of disease from medical settings from healthcare facilities, however more patients today are being treated in the homes, and what was classified as medical waste is now municipal garbage.   We have aids patients, hepatitis patients, and kidney dialysis patients treated in the homes with medical waste disposal needs. 
 
 
Viruses and bacteria stay active in body fluids, blood, feces and mucus in incontinents, sanitary napkin pads, dressings, etc.  When put into garbage bags these viruses can then be exposed to our air, water and humans by birds, mosquitoes, and animals feeding on the landfills. 
The Region of Peel has on their website and bulletin boards to double-bag the home healthcare waste and place it in the garbage, which now goes to landfills.   This waste they said can include dialysis tubing, filters, disposable towels/sheets, colostomy bags, IV bags and tubing, gastric and nasal tubes and soiled dressing and incontinence products.
 
When Jayne saw this information she contacted the Region and the Ministry of Environment questioning why this is allowed.  
Regulations need to be changed to address how this waste is being managed as Ontario and Canada is facing an epidemic of chronic disease.   1 in every 25 patients has an infection.  Canada’s population is aging and the prevalence of chronic diseases is rising and the risk includes the spread of drug resistant micro-organisms.
 
The news media every day has stories on zika virus, flesh eating disease, blood infections, Ebola and many others.   We have heard about the 6,000 dead birds washed up on Georgian Bay near Wasaga Beach tied with botulism. 
What we need is a change in Regulations for the management of this waste. 
 
For further details on Healthcare Waste Disposal, you can watch Jayne Pilot’s video on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdTtdyQVdLs or put her name into the search on You Tube, or listen to her podcast on NATO Association of Canada.
 
What can you do????    
You can make a difference by signing the petition to have our Government review and change regulations tied with healthcare waste disposal.   Go to https://goo.gl/uQkPBS and stop Healthcare Waste being disposed of in landfills.  This waste needs to be total destroyed through incineration (energy from waste) and not allowed in landfills.