Health Problems from Health Care Waste 421
Sangu’s story
Sangu was born in a small village
in India. After years of drought and
crop failure, she and her mother
and baby brother moved to the city
in search of a better life. They lived
with her mother’s family on a steep
hill over a dump site. Other children
showed Sangu how to pick out things
to sell from the dump site. Before
school every morning, she collected
scraps of tin, glass bottles, plastic
bags, and other things. Sangu used
the money she made to buy lunch and
hot tea after school.
Life was hard in the city, and
Sangu’s mother was soon working
away from the house all day. Sangu
had to take care of her baby brother
and could no longer go to school. Every day she spent many hours sorting
through garbage at the dump with her brother in a sling on her back.
Sometimes Sangu found bloody bandages, needles, and other hospital waste
mixed in with the rest of the trash. Sangu’s thin sandals did not protect her
from sharp things in the trash. Broken glass and rusted metal would sometimes
cut her feet and ankles. One day a syringe needle pierced her sandal and went
right into her foot. Soon after, Sangu got very sick with fever, tiredness, and a
swollen sore throat.
Sangu felt better after some weeks. But several months later she began to
feel sick again. She was tired all the time, had fevers and sores in her mouth,
lost her appetite, and grew very thin. Her mother and family worried about her,
but they had no money to take her to a doctor. Finally, her mother borrowed
money from a cousin and took Sangu to the health center. The doctor listened to
Sangu’s story, examined her, and then took some blood for a blood test.
The next day, they returned to the clinic and the doctor told Sangu’s mother
that Sangu had HIV. She needed medicine, but her family had no money to
take her to the hospital where she could get it and the attention she needed.
With great sadness, Sangu’s mother took her home. Sangu rested in bed, but
everyone knew she would not recover. A few months later, Sangu died.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012