Ghandhagiri at Gandhi Hospital

​Hyderabad: Health and sanitation need to go together but a cursory glance at the Gandhi Hospital proves how far divorced these two are from each other. Garbage is what one greets patients near the emergency and labour ward. Mosquitoes, rodents and stench are what patients have to deal with day in and day out.

A dump yard is so close to the Acute Medical Care ward that garbage is also seen scattered inside the wards. Ravi Kiran, a relative of a patient, said: “People are forced to walk over the spread garbage. When they enter into the wards, they bring some of it along.”

There are no measures taken to prevent mosquitoes from entering the wards. Mosquito mesh was last fixed seven years. Now most of them have worn out. “There has been no attempt to cover the windows since then,” said a staff nurse at the labour ward.

Lakshmama, a pregnant woman who was admitted two days ago, said: “Rodents have made life miserable and she was unable to sleep because of fear.”

While the city is under the grip of epidemics, workers show recklessness towards the garbage removal and bio-medical segregation due to which insects have increased in number in the hospital affecting all the wards in the premises of the hospital.

Used syringes and the other bio-medical wastes are scattered along the pathway of the hospital's parking area which invites flies, insects, rodents, cats and dogs that are responsible for the unhygienic conditions.

Though hospital has equipment to crush the bio-medical waste, one can see used syringes all over. Eventually, rag pickers in the hospital, sorting out the garbage have been at risk of getting infected with tetanus and HIV.

“GHMC is responsible for the removal of garbage. Whenever accumulation of garbage grows, we call them to clear it, but they response is poor,” said Resident Medical Officer Muralidhar Gupta.

“Sometimes the workers who collect garbage seem to be lethargic to dispose the bio- medical waste,” he said. RMO skipped the question of providing mosquito mesh for the wards and other facilities to the patients admitted in the hospital.