THROW IT RIGHT

Oman is piecing together norms to effectively dispose off e-waste

By V L Srinivasan
VL.Srinivasan@apexstuff.com

Electronic waste – e-waste – generated from the discarded accessories of mobile phones, old televisions, computers and other electronic items pollute the environment when disposed improperly. Though digitalisation of Oman is currently on at a hectic pace, the public and private sectors are yet to wake up to this threat and focus on managing and recycling e-waste. Most people are unaware of the fact that recycling e-waste is a potential business opportunity. Recycling e-waste also yields precious metals and third-grade plastic items.

Besides recovering precious metals like gold, palladium and platinum, recycling e-waste also helps in extracting other metallic and non-metallic substances from the scrap. Currently, e-waste is disposed off in a routine manner like any other kind of garbage, posing health hazards to people handling it because of the toxic materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium in it.

“E-waste is created by everyone of us, but proper disposal is our collective responsibility as doing so is beneficial to the local community as well as the environment,” said Sangeetha Sridhar, business content consultant with Information Technology Authority. According to her, some of the community-based efforts to manage e-waste include creation of a safe and eco-friendly e-waste recycling plant; coordinating the public and private sectors’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in e-waste management and recycling; putting in place a segregated e-waste collection system with local municipalities; encouraging the use of bio-degradable components in electronic products; clearly labeling hazardous substances used in electronic products for the knowledge of customers; promoting brands that encourage buyback schemes of old electronic products; and launching public awareness campaigns to minimise the quantity of e-waste.

“Developed nations like the US and Japan have strict laws governing disposal of e-waste and its recycling. We should have similar legislations in place so that e-waste does not degenerate environment,'' Sangeetha said.

Dr Bassim al Bahrani, a senior consultant and head of medical oncology at Royal Hospital, said that exposure to toxic elements that are also found in e-waste result in various kinds of cancers. Explaining why e-waste is harmful, another doctor from the hospital, Dr Rajan Balakrishnan, senior consultant and head of the radiation oncology department, said, “While alpha and beta rays affect human beings only when they are touched, the gamma rays emitted by such waste penetrate human bodies even if they are kept at a distance. “E-waste cause environmental pollution leading to health hazards. These should be handled and disposed off properly.”

The current practice among owners of computer shops in Ruwi is collecting e-waste in dustbins until these are taken away by the municipality to dumping yards, according to Thomsy Abraham of Venus Computer in Ruwi.

The Environment Society of Oman (ESO) believes that people can reduce e-waste by adopting various methods. Buying devices which are more durable and using rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones are some of these ways, said Nida Helou, manager of ESO.

According to Ahmed bin Zahir al Hinai, director of environmental inspection and control in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, e-waste has to be managed in compliance with the law on conservation of the environment and prevention of pollution issued through Royal Decree No (114/2001), the ministerial decision No 18/93 on the guidelines for the management of hazardous wastes and the Basel Convention of 1994 (on the control of transboundry movement of hazardous wastes and its disposal) of which Oman is a signatory. “We are currently in the process of finalising guidelines for proper disposal of e-waste,” he said.


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Restraint please, HIV/AIDS on rise

By V L Srinivasan

VL.Srinivasan@apexstuff.com

MUSCAT, Aug 11: Ministry of Health officials are a larmed by the number ofHIV/AIDS cases that have been reported in recent times. As many as 100 new HIV cases have been reported every year in the last decade. “Oman is categorised as a low prevalence country by the UNAIDS; we do not want to be complacent, which could worsen the situation in the country,” Dr Ali Ahmed Salim Baomer, head of the AIDS section in the Ministry of Health (MoH), told TheWeek.
According to MoH figures, the first ever HIV positive case in the country was detected in 1984. Currently, there are 1,119 Omani nationals living with HIV/AIDS,
while close to 500 have succumbed to the condition. But with the life expectancy of these patients set to increase due to better treatment now available for HIV/AIDS, it is expected that the number will swell in the coming years. Seventy-five per cent
of the cases reported are males.
Additionally, 100 new HIV/AIDS patients of other nationalities are reported every year. The ministry’s Orientation Document prepared for the ‘HIV/AIDS Social Communication Campaign’said young people are the most affected, with nearly half the cases – 47 per cent – being between the ages of 20 and 35, and 12.4 per cent affecting people under 20. Though sexual transmission is the most common mode of transmission, cases resulting from drug use are also of concern. The numbers are alarming for ministry officials because abstinence is the social norm in this
country and young unmarried men and women are expected to conform to it. It is risky behaviour among a section of the youngsters that has given risen to the current situation,officials believe.
Due to the strict vigil kept in blood banks – in both government and private hospitals – since 1994, not a single case of HIV/AIDS caused by blood transfusion has been reported. All cases reported are a result of unprotected sex, sharing
needles to inject drugs and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT).
The Orientation Document also stated the ministry’s concern over the level of awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention among the younger generation. While most secondary
school students – 98 per cent – said in a survey that they had heard about the condition, and over 90 per cent of them knew the modes of transmission, there were also numerous misconceptions. Fiftynine per cent of the adolescents surveyed said HIV/AIDS was transmitted by sharing utensils with a patient.
“To address these concerns, we launched the bilingual (Arabic and English)awareness campaign ‘Let’s Talk AIDS’ through mass media,” Dr Baomer said. The campaign is part
of the Oman National ResponseStrategy and Plan of Action launched in December 2007.
“But the biggest hurdle officials face in executing our plan are the cultural taboos. These prevent open discussion on sexual behaviour and drug abuse.”
The campaign includes presentations by celebrities and people living with HIV/AIDS to draw the attention youngsters to the problem. “We are also planning to involve nongovernmental organisations to supplement our efforts in spreading the message against drug addiction and for taking care of people infected with HIV/AIDS.”
But there aren’t many NGOs in Oman working in this field becauseof the taboos attached to it. One that i s here is the Youth Peer Education Network. “We are not only asking people to protect themselves from the disease but also fighting the
myths and misconceptions about it,” said Khamis Said Mohammed al Alawi, who leads the network's activitiesin Oman. “With Y-Peer already in the field, we are hopeful that more organisations will join the fight against the scourge of HIV/AIDS.”

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