Development of a national health care waste management policy for South Africa

Abstract

A Policy for Health Care Risk Waste (HCRW) Management is being developed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in collaboration with the national Department of Health. The HCRW Management Policy aims at: i) Setting of standards and guidelines for HCRW Management, ii) Environmental Performance requirements for Treatment Plants and preference of treatment technologies, iii) Particular approaches to improving management of HCRW in remote and rural areas as well as HCRW generated by smaller generators in communities, and iv) Proposed transition processes from the current to the preferred improved HCRW Management framework. The Paper includes a summary of the key interventions that is being proposed to be included in the National HCRW Policy.