Healthcare Waste Report - Environment Health

Ministry of Communications
As the competent agencies for communication
and transportation administration under the
State Council, it is responsible for formulating
and supervising implementation of
development strategies, guidelines, policies
and regulations in communication and
transportation related to HCWM.
General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine
The General AQSIQ is a department directly
under the State Council in charge of national
work on quality, metrology, entry-exit
commodity inspection, entry-exit health
quarantine, certification and accreditation,
standardization, etc. It can formulate
standards and rules for accreditation to
relevant agencies and for certification of
municipal waste treatment equipment.
Research Institute of Hospital
Management is authorized by the MoH to
conduct scientific research on hospital
management, train managerial and medical
personnel for hospitals, collect and analyze
information from international and domestic
sources regarding hospital management and
provide technical support to the governments
and relevant agencies in formulating policy
and making decisions.
Local and National Environmental
Protection Bureaus, under the Ministry of
Environmental Protection (MEP), are
responsible for the overall management of
hazardous waste and the enforcement of
related regulations. Authorized EPBs issue
licenses to hazardous waste disposal and
treatment sites, which are verified as qualified
to handle such waste.
POLICIES AND LEGISLATION
Since 1980’s, series of laws, regulations and
standards of HCWM have been promulgated
in China.
The Regulations on the Management of
Medical Waste was promulgated by the State
Council in June, 2003. It was the base for the
development of the medical waste
management system in China. During the
SARS epidemic, management of medical
waste became very difficult due to lack of
technical guidelines and standards for the
treatment of HCW and lack of centralised
disposal facilities. To solve this problem, the
Regulations on the Management of Medical
Waste was instituted by the State Council in
2003, based on the Law on Prevention of
Communicable Disease enacted in April 1989
and the Law on Prevention of Environmental
Pollution Caused by Solid Waste implemented
in April 1996. These laws filled up the gap in
the management of healthcare waste and
brought its management to a higher level.
The main content of the Regulation includes
the definition of healthcare waste, its
characteristic, the powers and responsibilities
of different departments, and the basic
measures of management. In the Regulations,
healthcare waste is defined to be harmful and
is classified as hazardous waste. Hence the
regulations and standards for hazardous waste
are also applicable to healthcare waste. This
enriched the management system of
healthcare waste. According to the
Regulations, centralized disposal was the most
preferred for the management of healthcare
waste.
After the promulgation of the Regulations, a
series of documents such as guidelines and
standards for the management of healthcare
waste and the construction and operation of
centralized disposal facilities were introduced.
Table below lists the laws, regulations and
guidelines that constitute the system of
healthcare management.
31 HEALTHCARE WASTE IN ASIA: INTUITIONS & INSIGHTS