It should come as no surprise that South Africa’s healthcare waste sector “is riddled with allegations of financial impropriety, corruption, overloaded facilities and use of inappropriate transport vehicles and storage facilities.”

So says the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa’s past president, Stan Jewaskiewitz. And few would doubt his words.

Healthcare waste made up to 46 tons of South Africa’s total annual waste, estimated at 108-million tons (excluding mine waste), and “only 2.5 tons” of that needed special treatment because it was hazardous, infectious or pathological.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/health/2013/03/07/institute-plans-to-clean-up-healthcare-waste-sector

These data carry their own rather frightening tale.

Assuming that the data presented in what is, after all, a news item that cannot be relied upon for accuracy – though a quote from the IWMSA past president should be reliable – the immediate question is where is the rest of the waste, from a population in excess of 50,500,000?

The data paint a picture of an awful lot of people who are not receiving adequate healthcare, indeed probably not receiving any formalised healthcare. It is so shocking, that we can draw such clear assumptions from healthcare waste output data, assuming of course that South Africa hasn’t found the Holy grail of waste minimisation, in which case please do share it with the rest of us!

No part of the waste sector, at home or abroad, can claim a squeaky clean business history – even regulators are in on the act – but the level of corruption in South Africa is quite astounding, frightening, perhaps predictable and a sad indictment on those who are involved. However, the problems are greater that that, starting with high government and the services provided to a predominantly dirt poor population. South Africa has a long and troubled history, and whether change must start at the top, at the bottom, or both, great change is still needed.