The State government has given a clean chit to manufacturing companies on the issue of pharmaceutical-induced environmental contamination.
An action-taken report filed by the Department of Health before the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal on August 19 said that pharma manufacturing units in the State were complying with pharmaceutical waste disposal norms. The tribunal had taken cognisance of the threat posed by pharmaceutical-induced waste contamination and had asked the Chief Secretaries of various States to submit their responses.
The report filed by the Kerala government said that only 1% of the total consumables was being manufactured within the State as 99% of the total medicines consumed by the public were being made outside. Of the 11 pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in the State, three are in the red category (highly polluting), while the rest figured in the orange category (moderately polluting) based on the pollution index levels.
The report said that all manufacturers complied with the provisions of Part I (Good manufacturing practices for premises and materials) of the Schedule M of the Drug Rules, 1945 that prescribed the general requirements to be met by the manufacturer for proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste.
Inspections by the department found that the units had set up effluent treatment plants in conformity with the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) norms. The action-taken report claimed that the Kerala Medical Services Corporation, which supplied medicines used in various hospitals, destroyed expired drugs/drugs unfit for use through the incineration method.
Biomedical waste along with medicines that crossed the expiry date collected from healthcare facilities are treated and disposed at the IMAGE facility of the Indian Medical Association in Palakkad and Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Ltd (KEIL) in Kochi.
Radioactive waste is treated by decay storage (allowing radioactivity to decay naturally), concentration (reducing volume through evaporation or other methods), and encapsulation (enclosing in a durable material to prevent leakage). Such waste is disposed of in a licensed radioactive waste facility such as a nuclear reactor or a deep geological repository.
The report said that the PCB had set up an antimicrobial resistance lab in Ernakulam as part of the government’s Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Action Plan. The facility can monitor both antibiotic residue and antimicrobial resistance in various sources. The standards on antibiotic residue and antimicrobial resistance are yet to be notified, according to the Health department.
Published - August 21, 2024 07:57 pm IST
