Last Sunday I visited a family friend, Doreen Odunga, a resident of Robert Ouko estate in Kisumu to have a good time and chat away the day during the festive season. As has been the norm we shared stories amid cold drinks while watching favorite television programs.
This helped divert attention from the scorching sun synonymous with the Lakeside City as the calm ambience was only disrupted by growling dogs that seemed to be involved in a vicious fight outside the apartment.
The never ending noise prompted me to satisfy my curiosity by dashing out to the rear balcony just to have a firsthand view of the canines’ vicious duel.
It emerged that the stray dogs were struggling over a plastic bag whose content could not be established immediately.
However, Odunga sought to calm down my nerves arguing that it was common for dogs to fight for leftovers at the dumpsite. She made the remarks while still in the house concentrating on her chores.
But the dog’s fight grew uglier as the five canines struggled persistently as if to determine who among them would take home the ‘hunt’ from the dumpsite only to end-up ripping off the content which got scattered all over the place to the chagrin of those of us who were watching keenly.
A few minutes later several used sanitary pads got strewn all over having dropped off from the plastic bag ripped off with some of the canines carrying away a piece each as they dashed into a nearby bush probably to ‘feast’.
Back in the house, I narrated the incident to my host Odunga who confided that apart from the leftovers, fecal matter and menstrual waste are often found in such plastic containers which are favorite ‘delicacies’ for the dogs.
Curiosity prompted me to seek professional opinion from Arthur Shikanda, the Officer in charge of Public Health (PHO) in Kisumu County who said used and poorly disposed sanitary pads have become a major health menace in the devolved units across the country.
Shikanda intimated that this kind of waste was only comparable to a ticking time bomb waiting to explode when a trigger like the stray dogs tear the plastic containers apart and more so during rainy season, thus could culminate into a health hazard.
Similarly, such waste have in the past threatened to wipe out entire herds of cattle and other ruminants like goats and sheep that frequented the dumpsites in-search of ‘food’ contrary to the norm that the animals relied solely on grass.
In the past, some of the livestock ended-up with serious infections in the digestive tracts and even died as a result of blockage in the intestines.
“Blood in used sanitary pads also attracts pets especially dogs, cats and pigs which retrieve them from bins and dumpsites for food,” said Shikanda.
He noted that apart from the dignity kits (sanitary pads), baby diapers that are increasingly being used in place of the traditional napkins blocked the city’s drainage system thus compounded the flooding situation.
Sanitary pads, Shikanda explained have since inception been put into use by women during menstruation cycle but since then, the poor disposal methods has caused a major concern to local residents.
“We must acknowledge the important role sanitary pads play in improving menstrual hygiene for women. However, this is not just any kind of waste. It is biological waste which has the capacity to transmit infections like HIV/AIDS if mishandled,” argued Shikanda.
He revealed that the blood in the pads provided a fertile ground for bacteria and other disease causing organisms to thrive.
“This is the reason why used sanitary pads emitted unpleasant smells once the parasites died,” explained the PHO.
Subsequently, most learning institutions have been prevailed upon to install bins in their respective premises where such waste could be disposed separate from the normal garbage, Shikanda emphasized.
Major hotels, health facilities, several public and private offices in Kisumu City, Shikanda added, were among the few places that have proper mechanisms of disposing off such sanitary pads.
However, the health practitioner lamented over residential areas which have been hardest by the menace especially in slum areas like Manyatta, Kondele, Obunga, Nyalenda among other informal settlements which should develop a proper framework for safe collection and disposal of such waste.
Pundits have often pointed out that such waste ended up in dust bins, trenches and along the roads which they littered in heaps usually at night.
In some residential places, Shikanda said young children even play with used pads, used condoms, and medical needles that have either been deliberately disposed of by residents or ripped apart and scattered by stray dogs and thus exposed the public to grave danger.
The used diapers have also been blamed for environmental degradation as some residents dumped them anywhere along the roads, drainages and residential areas without considering ultimate consequences of their actions.
According to Shikanda, baby diapers have resulted to foul smell that attracted flies which later landed on people food consumed by people thus a source of cholera, typhoid and diarrhea related ailments which have been attributed poor hygiene.
Kisumu County Director of Environment Aura Saisi states that with over 310,000 females of reproductive age (10-49 years) in the devolved unit, sanitary pads and baby diapers will in the near future prove to be more disastrous than the banned plastic bags.
Saisi called for speedy actions in dealing with such kind of waste instead of waiting for a disaster to strike before taking necessary measures.
He said that as the National Environment and Management Authority (NEMA) officer for Kisumu County, statistics available at their disposal indicate that 90% of the over 310,000 female population in the county accessed modern disposable sanitary pads.
Similarly, a report released in July 2017 by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicated that Kisumu County has 311,842 females aged between 10 – 49 years. (National Census 2009).
According to the National Council of Population Development (NCPD) coordinator for Kisumu and Siaya counties, Sammy Tanui, the Lakeside County (Kisumu) had a fertility rate 3.6% against a population growth rate of 2.2%.
Tanui said Kisumu’s population has been projected to balloon to 1.8 million up from the current 1.1 million by 2050.
These figures are a pointer to projected increased use of sanitary pads in Kisumu County in the near future.
At the same time, the information raises a red flag to environment stakeholders to step-up research and harness efforts in a bid to prevent disposal of sanitary pads and diapers from spiraling out of control.
If approximately 90% of females of the reproductive age used a minimum of five pads monthly during their menstrual cycle, Saisi expressed fears that several tons of menstrual waste would be generated without proper environmental conservation measures then we could be courting disaster.
“The government and NGO’s have of late been keen on ensuring that every school girl gets sanitary pads. There is, however, no proper management program laid-out to effectively deal with such waste,” Saisi pointed out.
In the same breath, industries that produce sanitary pads and diapers have been challenged to device mechanisms of ensuring that their products were properly disposed off in the long-run.
“They should come-up with a take-back system the same way some bottling companies like Coca Cola have done. It is disturbing that they have feigned blindness on the negative ramifications such products unleashed to the environment,” argued Saisi.
The other concern has been rehabilitation of River Kisat, where the Environment Officer said they extracted a ton of baby diapers and sanitary pads which had been flushed into the river and swept in to Lake Victoria and so fed the thriving water hyacinth.
Saisi said the activity saw the river get spruced-up and bamboo trees planted along the banks the process which made the NEMA team establish the extensive disposal of menstrual and diaper in to the shared second largest fresh water Lake.
“This leaves one agape considering the high levels of the muck the Lake was exposed to considering that it is surrounded by other densely populated counties; Siaya, Homabay, Busia and Migori is holding. This is a lifetime threat to marine life,” lamented Saisi.
There are two ways of properly disposing sanitary pads and diapers, the NEMA official said that have been adapted in the country.
“These are the Shredder and Microwave method which entails using a special shredding machine to slice the waste into smaller pieces, after which they are sterilized in a microwave,’ explained Saisi.
He argued that the method frees the waste from infectious contagions besides reducing its size, hence cutting down on the time it would have taken to decompose in the ground.
The second way of disposing pads and diapers which is the most commonly used in Kisumu is incineration, added the NEMA Officer.
According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), incineration is the burning of wastes using high temperatures. UNEP states that this process reduces related health risks, lessens waste volume by up to 90 % and the weight by up to 75 %.
But the PHO for Kisumu (Shikanda) revealed that Kisumu County only has two safe incinerators which meet the requirements of deposing medical waste.
He said the two incinerators are located at the Center for Disease Control (CDC-Kisumu) and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH).
However, safe incinerators are expensive to install, manage and required skilled manpower to work in tandem with the stipulated local and global environment regulatory statutes, explained Shikanda.
The incinerators have the capacity to achieve temperatures of up to 1100 degrees Celsius. The high temperatures destroy toxic elements that always escape when wastes are burnt at lower temperatures, said Shikanda.
Among the toxins that escape from low heat incinerators in to the environment during burning include; dioxins and furans. The two chemical elements, the PHO defined above are persistent environment pollutants besides being cancerous.
These substances are released in to the environment when wastes with chorine are burned. Nonetheless, the Medic revealed that there were plans to overhaul and upgrade the incinerator at JOOTRH.
Shikanda disclosed that other plans were also in the pipeline to setup state of the art incinerators at Ahero Sub-County hospital and at Kisumu County Hospital to help in mitigating the challenge of managing menstrual and medical waste.
A report investigating Energy Efficiency and Production of Unintended Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) conducted by Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) in the USA recommended the use of large and centralized incinerators rather than small, decentralized units to avoid batch-type operations.
This, the research paper published in 2009 stated will translate to energy efficiency and cost reduction owing to the fact that incinerators are costly to install and run.
In order to deal with this environmental menace, Shikanda said it was time the African society changed its view and perception on menses.
He lamented that women experiencing their monthly periods have been segregated in the society and considered to be unclean, a factor that made most of them feel unwanted and kind of ostracized.
“Unless the myth is removed from our mindsets, women will continue hiding during their menses and secretly dispose off used pads in bags and throw them in dumpsites and along the roads at night. This will forever deal a blow to efforts of expunging menstrual waste from our areas of residence,” warned Shikanda.
The idea to establish active village administrative units by Kisumu Governor, Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, the PHO said will also give impetus to promoting environmental conservation.
“The units will also see proper waste disposal methods fully entrenched in all villages. They will also be pivotal in encouraging inclusiveness in the society by championing the rights and dignity of women,” added Shikanda.
The PHO called for public and private partnership with sanitation companies to extend their services to far flung residential areas as a move towards ensuring all sanitary pads and diapers are professionally disposed off.
Rentokil Initial is the only known company charged with collecting menstrual wastes but their services have not been fully exploited by local residents schools, government offices and health facilities for maximum impact and prevention of a catastrophe.