REPORTS & PUBLICATION

REPORTS

Medical Waste Management

2011 | ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross

The world is generating more and more waste and hospi-tals and health centres are no exception. Medical waste can be infectious, contain toxic chemicals and pose contamina-tion risks to both people and the environment. If patients are to receive health care and recover in safe surroundings, waste must be disposed of safely. Choosing the correct course of action for the different types of waste and setting priorities are not always straightfor-ward, particularly when there is a limited budget. This manual provides guidance on what is essential and what actions are required to ensure the good management of waste.Drawing on the most up-to-date professional practice, the manual provides practical recommendations for use in the different contexts where the ICRC works. It includes techni-cal sheets ready for use, ideas for training and examples of job descriptions for hospital staff members. The guidance in this manual is applicable in resource poor countries as well as in countries where there is a more developed health infrastructure.

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Healthcare Waste in Asia

2010 |

Realizing the threats posed by healthcare waste, the Thematic Working Group on Solid and Hazardous Waste under the Regional Forum on Environment and Health considered it as an important area for action.The 3RKH and TWGSHW share common interests on healthcare waste as their priority areas. In view of this commonality, 3RKH was tasked with the assignment of preparing a Healthcare Waste status report. The task was initiated by 3RKH with the support from ADB and TWGSHW in turn supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ). This report titled "Healthcare Waste in Asia: Intuitions & Insights" is the outcome of the study. Understanding the liability of the study and its possible reflection on future decisions, information sources were selected with due care. Ministries and organizations related to healthcare waste were considered the key sources of information.

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Minding the Gap: Research Priorities to Address Pharmaceuticals in the Environment

2010 | Health Care Without Harm , School of Public Health: UIC

Worldwide, pharmaceuticals save millions of lives by preventing and treating diseases, and improve the quality of life for those with a chronic condition. But these lifesaving properties come with an environmental downside. Recent widespread detection of pharmaceuticals in our waterways has generated publicconcern over the potential environmental and human health impacts associated with exposure. The unintended movement of biologically active, toxic, and hormone-disrupting compounds from pharmaceuticals to wastewater effluents and drinking water sources is an international problem that has been documented and publicly reported by government experts and academic researchers for nearly two decades.

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Understanding and simplifying bio-medical waste management

2005 | Health Care Without Harm

The issue of medical waste management was first taken up in India around 1995.A lot has changed since then in the way medical waste is handled, stored, treated and disposed. An important catalyst to this change have been the Bio-medical Waste (Management &Handling) Rules 1998. Framing the rules was one important aspect of waste management, but implementing the rules required that the medical fraternity understood the rules and adopted them into their professional environments. This was possible only through large-scale training of medical staff. Considering the geographical spread of India, and the size of its medical sec-tor, this has been, and continues to be, a challenging task. Srishti, a programme of Toxics Link, has played its part in training healthcare professionals regarding medical waste management and the implementation of management systems in hospitals and other medical institutions.

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Strategic Plan on Management of Mercury in Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining in Combodia 2012-2016

2011 | UNEP

The Strategic Plan on Management of Mercury in Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (SPASGM) was prepared by the Department of Environmental Pollution Control (DEPC), the Ministry of Environment (MOE), with support from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). This strategic plan was developed in response to various concerns on safe use and sound management regarding intentional mercury use in Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM). This SPASGM is also developed and implemented to support existing legal frameworks, national strategies, action plans and many other relevant technical papers. Technical support for this development was administered by the UNEP Chemicals Branch through the Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Project with in-kind contributions from the Royal Government of Cambodia.

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Cambodia Mercury Inventory Report

2008 | Ministry of Environment, Cambodia

All over history, mercury has been known and used for gold and silver processing. In many parts of the world, mercury has been used in batteries, chlor-alkali production, dental amalgam, fluorescent lights, switches, and thermometers. Much of the mercury contained in these end-of-use products can be recycled; however, only a small amount of the mercury used is recycled. Mercury is a liquid metal, occurs naturally in a number of geologic environments, may be obtained as a by-product from precious metals mining, and is found in trace amounts in coal. Much of this mercury may be used and recycled; however, mercury used for gold production and mercury released from coal-fired power-plants, broken fluorescent lamps, battery production, and other sources is not recovered to any high degree and becomes a global environmental and human health concern. Minamata disease is an excellence example of mercury impact to the environment and human health in Japan, which brought a global concern of its release to the environment and seeking cooperation among countries for sound management of its release.

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