Waste Management in Small Scale Health Care Facilities - Protecting Health and Environment in Rural and Urban Settings

Healthcare waste is a recognised health and environmental threat, with half of the world’s population estimated to be at risk . Waste may pose physical dangers, carry infection, or contain toxic materials such as mercury. In addition, burning in low tech incinerators or in pits will produce large amounts of dioxins and furans, targeted for elimination by the global Stockholm Convention. These hazards, and the fact that many waste workers are not properly trained or protected, can lead to violations of human rights.

At present, this issue is poorly addressed in many low to middle income countries, though increasing efforts are under way in many places to improve the situation. Non-incineration disposal methods, which are recommended by the Stockholm Convention and the World Health Organisation, are becoming more widely used in low to middle income countries. However, priority is usually given to improving the situation in the largest facilities and the best established waste management technologies are designed for hundreds to thousands of kilos of waste per day.

These initiatives therefore have limited relevance for clinics and other small healthcare facilities that may generate only a few kilos of wastes, or may be too remote to transport waste to better equipped establishments.