Local
Amid ongoing discussions surrounding the environmental and health reality in the country, the Ministry of Environment issued a comprehensive explanatory statement on Sunday regarding the recent remarks made by Minister Sarwa Abdel Wahed concerning the pollution of the Tigris River waters and fish. The Minister of Environment had previously sparked widespread interaction and societal debate following her public talk about the dumping of medical waste and hospital refuse into the Tigris River without subjecting them to required treatments, pointing out that what she witnessed directly made her hesitant to consume fish. During a televised appearance, Abdel Wahed explained that she became much more cautious regarding fish consumption after learning the truth about what is thrown into the Tigris waters, including medical facility waste and hospital refuse, along with blood remains of patients, some of whom may carry serious chronic diseases, including AIDS. In a related context, the ministry's statement indicated that the minister's warnings regarding the discharge of medical waste and untreated contaminated water from hospitals directly into the Tigris River came exclusively within the framework of early warning against the severe environmental and health repercussions of these wrongful practices, while continuously stressing the necessity of treating them according to approved environmental regulations and standards to ensure public health protection and preserve vital water resources. The statement added that some media platforms and outlets handled and circulated the minister's statement in a scientifically inaccurate manner, by creating an unjustified link between the discharge of such waste and the possibility of human immunodeficiency virus transmission via fish consumption, which necessitated this clarification based on sound and recognized scientific and medical facts. The ministry concluded in its clarification by emphasizing that the human immunodeficiency virus cannot possibly be transmitted through consuming fish, drinking water, or eating food, according to confirmed scientific and medical data, renewing the confirmation that warnings against environmental pollution remain valid and ongoing based on its actual tangible risks and potential catastrophic impacts on human health and various ecosystems.
