422 Health Care Waste
Why did Sangu die?
Sangu died from AIDS after she was infected by stepping on a contaminated
syringe needle.
Her illness and death were caused by an environmental problem: poor
disposal of health care waste; and a social problem: poverty.
What could have prevented Sangu’s death?
Because many different social problems contribute to poverty, poverty can be
difficult to solve. These questions show some of the problems:
• Why was Sangu not in school?
• Why did Sangu need to collect waste to earn money?
• Why did Sangu not have good shoes to protect her feet?
• Why was she not able to get health care and medicine?
Thin shoes, no money to get medicine or health care, and a desperate
need to earn money, combined with the malnutrition and other
problems that are a part of poverty are some of the answers to these
questions. Finding solutions to social problems like these may take a
long time.
Health care waste affects
many people, including
those too poor to go to a
health center.
The environmental problem may be easier to solve in the short term. We can
begin by asking these questions:
• Why was harmful health care waste mixed in with other trash that
could be recycled or reused?
• Why was so much harmful waste dumped in the open, rather than
disposed of safely?
Responsible management of health care waste can improve living conditions
for everyone, especially those forced by poverty to live on scraps.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012