In pursuing their aims of reducing health problems and eliminating
potential risks to peopleÕs health, health-care services inevitably create
waste that may itself be hazardous to health. The waste produced in the
course of health-care activities carries a higher potential for infection and
injury than any other type of waste. Wherever it is generated, safe and
reliable methods for its handling are therefore essential. Inadequate
and inappropriate handling of health-care waste may have serious public
health consequences and a signiÞcant impact on the environment. Sound
management of health-care waste is thus a crucial component of environmental
health protection.
In both the short term and the long term, the actions involved in implementing
effective health-care waste management programmes require
multisectoral cooperation and interaction at all levels. Policies should be
generated and coordinated globally, and the management practices
implemented locally. Establishment of a national policy and a legal
framework, training of personnel, and raising public awareness are essential
elements of successful health-care waste management. Improved
public awareness of the problem is vital in encouraging community participation
in generating and implementing policies and programmes.
Management of health-care waste should thus be put into a systematic,
multi-faceted framework, and should become an integral feature of
health-care services.