In the fight against the deadly Coronavirus, nose masks have been an essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) against the spread of the virus.

In Ghana and some parts of the world, it is mandatory to wear a nose mask in a public place. Persons who have defied this directive have in some cases been prevented from accessing buildings or spaces due to the “No Mask, No Entry” policy.

However, the poor disposal of nose masks has been a major challenge as the environment continues to be polluted with used nose masks.

The Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), Prof. Abraham Kwabena Anang, has called for public awareness on proper disposal of potentially contaminated nose masks as they pose great danger to human lives.

Speaking in an interview on Radio Univers 105.7FM, Prof. Abraham Anang, indicated that the situation can contribute to the outbreak of re-emerging diseases.

“If you release these facemasks, potentially contaminated, and we don’t even know the range of organisms of microbes that are coming from the whole of the population, to go into water systems, and you are allowing that water to be taken by animals, to be used to water plants, it is more than dangerous for emerging and reemerging diseases because anything can happen and at any time."

He added: "For every situation, there could also be the outliers where you would find some non-compliance. Covid has come to magnify the waste disposal challenge and one of the things covid has done is that previously, surgical masks were used in the hospitals and disposed off, but now you would find surgical masks in homes and unfortunately, the biosafety biosecurity systems in hospitals are not in homes.”