As the global healthcare system expands, including the increasing success of immunization efforts, this inevitably leads to a growing amount of healthcare waste (HCW). Certain types of HCW can pose significant environmental and public health risks due to its toxic, infectious, and other hazardous properties. It is important to recognize that immunization activities are part of the overall health system, and healthcare waste management (HCWM) must be coordinated across many entities, different departments, and, often, even the private sector.
Looking at various countries around the world, one finds that there are many different types of health systems, thus many different types of waste management systems as well. Thus, HCWM is a system that must be planned and coordinated across multiple stakeholders and programs. Immunization leaders must closely coordinate with the government entities responsible for waste management to best link resources and technologies in ensuring best practices for managing healthcare waste.
This page provides a list of resources related to healthcare waste management, as well as materials developed by local governments, multinational organizations, and the private sector. The aim is to inform and guide constituents in the public and private sector. Additionally, this page sponsors a constructive dialogue on everything from what it takes to design an HCWM plan, to applying best practices between existing HCWM models among countries in different contexts.
Apropos of the multifaceted nature of HCWM, this page’s resources have been organized according to the following categories:
- Technical Webinar Series: Planning, Technology, and Capacity Strengthening
- Assessment and planning tools
- Policy and guidance
- Technology
- Case Studies & Country Features
Technical Webinar Series: Planning, Technology, and Capacity Strengthening
| Title | Author | Year | Type | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facility-level activities: Managing health care waste - presentation | Mwenge Mwanamwenge, Ieva Petrikaite, Andrew Cantillo, Aurélien Bataille, Benjamin Lobbe, Loubna Essabouri, Ledina Hyseni | 2024 | Presentation | English |
| Facility-level activities: Managing health care waste - video | Mwenge Mwanamwenge, Ieva Petrikaite, Andrew Cantillo, Aurélien Bataille, Benjamin Lobbe, Loubna Essabouri, Ledina Hyseni | 2024 | Webinar | English |
| Green & safe technologies for health care waste treatment: From selection & procurement to implementation - presentation | Bertin Technologies, Ecosteryl, Newster, Tesalys | 2024 | Presentation | English |
| Green & safe technologies for health care waste treatment: From selection & procurement to implementation - video | Bertin Technologies, Ecosteryl, Newster, Tesalys | 2024 | Webinar | English |
| National strategies to improve Health Care Waste Management (HCWM) - presentation | Isabelle Cantin, Ranjit Dhiman, Patricia Darikwa, Mwenge Mwanamwenge | 2023 | Presentation | English |
| National strategies to improve Health Care Waste Management (HCWM) - video | Isabelle Cantin, Ranjit Dhiman, Patricia Darikwa, Mwenge Mwanamwenge | 2023 | Webinar | English |
Assessments & Planning Tools
This is a set of resources that supports training and capacity building for health workers involved in HCWM.
Policy and guidance
Technology
This is a set of resources that describes the different technologies currently employed in HCWM.