Advertisement

Paper Talk: Hong Kong clinics and labs illegally dumping medical waste

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Clinics and labs must dispose of medical waste in treatment centres, such as this one in Tsing Yi. Photo: May Tse

Sunday, Ming Pao Daily

Clinics and labs illegally dumping medical waste

Medical waste at medical institutes has not been properly disposed of, reporters found during recent investigations at 10 commercial buildings in Mong Kok, Jordan and Causeway Bay, where many clinics and laboratories are located. Blood-filled test tubes, endoscopies and syringes were thrown on staircases along with other rubbish, and not shipped to a chemical waste disposal centre in accordance with the law. That may explain why the amount of medical waste in the city has increased only 7 per cent in three years although the health care industry has been expanding, with its value up more than 10 per cent in 2013 alone.

Monday, HK Economic Times

More mainland children seek cancer treatment in HK

Hospitals have experienced a surge in the number of children with cancer in recent years. In 2013 alone, 234 children and teenagers were diagnosed with cancer in the city, a rise of 20 per cent from the previous year, according to Hospital Authority data. The number of such children in age groups younger than four and of between 10 and 14 soared 50 per cent, most of them with leukaemia and brain cancer. It was reported that some of the children seeking treatment were born in Hong Kong and their parents were mainland residents. A doctor at Prince of Wales Hospital said treatment costs for each case was as high as HK$10 million and taxpayers might need to subsidise the rising costs in future.

Advertisement