Syringes found on Mangroves beach

IN the midst of a severe medical supply shortage at numerous government clinics in Durban, a group of locals discovered a bottle of dumped syringes along the Mangroves Beach.

Several clinics are in dire need of surgical gloves, insulin needles, syringes and lancets – making it near impossible to attend to emergency cases or to provide basic medical services such as vaccinations or Pap tests.

The syringes, which appear to be unused, were found during a recent clean-up, said Glenhills resident Dale Johnson – who helped launch the #CleanBlueLagoon initiative.

‘Medical’ or ‘pharmacutical’ waste first began posing an issue along the Durban beaches on 16 May 2016, when Redhill resident, William Collingwood, found the waste scattered along Beachwood Beach.

Some of the items Collingwood discovered included, male and female condoms, antiretroviral drugs as well as blood pressure and tuberculosis tablets.

Later that month the municipality closed off several beaches, including the Mangrove, Beachwood, Virginia and Glenashley beaches, so that workers could collect and remove the potentially hazardous waste.

For weeks the pharmaceutical waste continued to wash up along the Durban beaches. At one of the inspections the Northglen News also discovered a test tube.

About two months after the original discovery the City closed all investigations regarding the potentially hazardous waste and its origins.

The eThekwini head of communications, Tozi Mthethwa said investigations conducted by a multidisciplinary team consisting of city, provincial and national health officials as well as other relevant government departments from 16 to 20 May, determined that the debris was ‘general and nature’ and ‘the matter was closed’.

Northglen News has requested comment from the City regarding the latest case of dumped medical items.

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