Healthcare Waste Report - Environment Health

PREFACE
The 3R Knowledge Hub, shortly 3RKH, as a complementing
effort to the 3R Initiative of the Ministry of the Environment,
Japan, was established by the Asian Development Bank, Asian
Institute of Technology, UNEP Regional Resource Centre for
Asia and the Pacific, and United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Currently, 3RKH
functions with the objective of promoting Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), Healthcare Waste
(HCW) and E-waste.
The “Regional Initiative on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian
Countries” was formed in 2004 and created six Thematic Working Groups (TWGs)
of which one is on Solid and Hazardous Waste. The two main areas of focus of
Thematic Working Group on Solid and Hazardous Waste (TWGSHW) are MSW
and HCW where, at present TWGSHW is focusing on HCW considering it is as one
area that receives little attention among policy planners and waste generators alike.
The overlap of HCW between the focal areas of 3RKH and
TWGSHW resulted in assigning the task of preparing HCW
status report to 3RKH. With the financial support by MOEJ
and under the auspices of TWGSHW, 3RKH initiated a study
involving the ministries and other organizations related to
healthcare waste for collecting the most reliable and authentic
information.
This report titled “Healthcare Waste in Asia: Intuitions &
Insights” discusses the prevailing situation of waste
management in healthcare facilities for 12 countries in the
Asian continent, including developed nations Japan and
Singapore. The developing countries considered for study are
Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. This report has
been prepared targeting policymakers, technology providers,
healthcare facilities, and the public.
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