Healthcare Waste Report - Environment Health

designed to dispose less than 10 tons/day were
recommended to use other techniques with
pretreatment such as sterilizing, destroying
and decontaminating to prevent secondary
pollution. The National Plan was delayed due
to lack of technology and market. As on
September 2007 there were 108 facilities,
either constructed or under construction. The
Plan is now been extended for completion
before 2009. The investment for the
construction of centralized disposal facilities is
1 billion USD (6.89 billion RMB).
INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS
Healthcare waste management in China
involves a wide range of government
functional departments of comprehensive
planning, financing, health, environment,
safety, transportation and construction. There
are organizations with administrative
functions of supervision and administration
entrusted by the government such as the
National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Finance
(MoF), Ministry of Science and Technology
(MoST), Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inpsection and Quarantine
(AQSIQ), State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA), Ministry of Health
(MoH), Research Institute of Hospital
Management (RIHM), Local Environmental
Protection Bureaus (LEPB), Local health
bureaus at county level and above, Pricing
Bureaus and other government functional
departments including the monitoring
stations, industrial associations and training
centres in both health and environment
sectors. Figure(far right) shows the institutional
setup governing healthcare waste in China.
Responsibilities of some of the institutions are
presented in the next page.
Ministry of Environmental Protection
As the competent department HCW include:
formulating national environmental protection
guidelines and policies; developing related
environmental standards, environmental
protection regulations and programs;
organizing work in environmental monitoring,
statistics and information; carrying out overall
supervision and management on
environmental protection of the whole
country; participating in international
environmental protection activities on behalf
of the state.
Ministry of Health
In terms of HCWM, the MoH is responsible
for: drafting guidelines and policies on health
affairs; participating in formulating relevant
laws and regulations; putting forward
development plans for the healthcare system;
formulating health technical rules and
standards, and supervising their
implementation. It is also responsible for the
overall planning and coordination of health
resources allocation for the whole country and
guiding implementation of health plans in
different regions.
National Development and Reform
Commission
As the macro-economy regulatory
department, NDRC is responsible for:
studying and formulating national economic
and social development plans and strategies,
keeping overall balance and giving guidance
to overall economic institutional reform;
developing environmentally friendly industrial
policies, and restriction or elimination of
outdated production techniques and
equipment so as to promote sustainable
development strategy. Additionally, NDRC is
responsible for the formulation of
development policies relating to healthcare;
and, together with the concerned department,
organize development, replication and facility
construction of technologies to HCW
disposal.
29 HEALTHCARE WASTE IN ASIA: INTUITIONS & INSIGHTS