Demonstrating and Promoting Best Techniques and Practices for Reducing Health-care Waste to Avoid Environmental Releases of Dioxins and Mercury

The health sector is a major source of dioxins and mercury in the global environment primarily as a result of medical waste incineration and the breakage and improper disposal of mercury-containing devices such as thermometers and sphygmomanometers. This Project is designed to assist the participating countries in developing and sustaining best practices in a way that is both locally appropriate and globally replicable. An additional component in Tanzania will develop, test and disseminate affordable and effective alternative health-care waste treatment technologies appropriate to conditions in much of sub-Saharan Africa. The Project aims to demonstrate and promote replication of best environmental practices and techniques for health-care waste management through model facilities and programs, and to reduce barriers to national implementation of these strategies. The main Project activities will include: - Establishment of model facilities and programs exemplifying health-care waste management best practices, and development of replication materials; - Deployment and evaluation of appropriate commercially-available, non-incineration health-care waste treatment technologies; - Development, testing, manufacture and deployment of appropriate and affordable, small-scale non-incineration technologies for sub-Saharan African facilities, and preparation and dissemination of manuals; - Introduction of mercury-free devices in model facilities, evaluation of their acceptability and efficacy, and development and dissemination of awareness-raising and educational materials; - Establishment/enhancement of capacity-building training programs for best practices and appropriate technologies implementation beyond the model facilities and programs; - Review of relevant policies, seeking of agreement by relevant authorities on recommended updates or reformulations, seeking of implementation plan agreement, and assistance in any policy review conference; - Distribution of best techniques and practices results to relevant stakeholders; and - Dissemination of results on demonstrated best techniques and practices for scaling up regionally and globally.