Environmental and Social Management Framework for Tanzania ...

1.3 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES
The development objective of the Project is to strengthen regional capacity for the
diagnosis, management, and surveillance of TB and other communicable diseases.
The project will facilitate knowledge sharing and assist participating countries to
translate their common interests and goals into a community of practice, promoting
common approaches to prevention and control of communicable diseases, learning
from each other, and working towards greater regional integration. The project is
aimed at improving access, quality, and efficiency of TB diagnostic services using an
integrated approach to laboratory strengthening. The specific objectives are to:
(iii) establish additional Supranational Reference Laboratories in strategic
locations to provide quality assurance, training, and capacity building;
(iv) introduce modern diagnostic techniques, increasing capacity for drug
resistance surveillance, and ensuring compliance with bio-safety and infection
control standards in a group of national reference and public health
laboratories; and
(v) develop and test alternative service delivery models to promote private sector
involvement.
The project would also facilitate learning and knowledge sharing across the network
of participating laboratories and countries. In the short-term, the development of
laboratory waste management plans for the above participating countries are
intended to strengthen environmentally safe waste disposal.
The project will ultimately contribute to improving health outcomes in participating
countries. It will contribute to the achievement of MDG 6 (Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria
and other diseases), and more specifically to the global targets to “reduce the
prevalence and death rates associated with TB” and to increase the “proportion of
TB cases detected and cured”. It may also contribute to MDG 5 (Improve maternal
health) and MDG 4 (Reduce child mortality) by reducing maternal and under-five
mortality due to TB.
1.4 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT’S AREAS OF INFLUENCE
Upgrading, rehabilitation, and/or construction of laboratories as well as generation of
medical waste will have negative environmental and social consequences. Therefore
the project has triggered OP/BP 4.01(Environmental Assessment) due to the
planned construction/rehabilitation of laboratories as well as the generation of
medical waste at these laboratories; and has been assigned to the World Bank
environmental category B.
Potential safeguard issues and areas of influence will be on the environmental
components of soil, air and water, and vegetation. Issues on social components will
relate to traffic accidents, safety of workers and potential for spread of HIV and
AIDS. The areas to be affected include public places where people gather in large
numbers; poorly ventilated public places and laboratories; points or places of
collection, transportation, storage and analysis of specimens; as well as places of
disposal of laboratory and hospital waste.
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