HCM City-based Hospitals Fail to Build Wastewater Treatment Systems

Many hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have failed to build medical wastewater treatment systems or have substandard ones despite years of operation, Deputy Head of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Van Phuoc said. As many as 113 domestic hospitals are estimated to dump 23,000 cubic meters of wastewater into the environment a day, but 23 of which have not yet built wastewater treatment systems and 41 have discharged substandard treated wastewater. Even some large hospitals like the People’s Hospital No. 115, Children’s Hospital No.1, and Hung Vuong Hospital also do not have any wastewater treatment facilities, the deputy head added. Meanwhile, many other big health centers are still in the process of building and upgrading wastewater treatment facilities, namely Nguyen Trai Hospital, Saigon General Hospital, Dermatology Hospital, Tumor Hospital, Trung Vuong Hospital, Children’s Hospital No.2, Tu Du Hospital. Phuoc added environment protection is still considered a pressure issue as many local hospitals and companies remain ignoring the matter, posing a threat to the human health. Currently, residents in HCM City discharge nearly 1.2 million cubic meters of wastewater into the environment a day. The city plans to build a total of nine large wastewater treatment facilities by 2020. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon- Saigon Economic Times Daily Oct 26 p3)