By Abdullahi Lukman
The Federal Ministry of Environment, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, on Thursday launched the National Healthcare Waste Management Policy, Guidelines and Action Plan to ensure safe handling and disposal of medical waste across the country.
The launch, held in Abuja, brought together stakeholders from government, health institutions, environmental agencies, development partners and the private sector.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said the framework was developed to address environmental and public health risks associated with poor management of healthcare waste, including sharps, infectious materials, pathological waste and expired pharmaceuticals.
Lawal said with Nigeria’s growing population and expanding healthcare services, generation of healthcare waste has increased significantly, making standardization of practices imperative.
He said the new documents, validated at a national stakeholders forum, provide clear procedures for segregation, collection, storage, transportation, treatment and final disposal of healthcare waste in line with the Basel and Stockholm Conventions, to which Nigeria is a signatory.
According to him, all healthcare waste generated by public and private health institutions must be safely handled and disposed of under the polluter-pays and extended producer responsibility principles, enforced by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said poor healthcare waste management exposes health workers, patients and communities to infections, injuries and antimicrobial resistance.
Salako said the framework would strengthen infection prevention and control, promote injection safety, and align with the National Policy on Injection Safety and Healthcare Waste Management.
He disclosed that a Technical Working Committee drawn from the Federal Ministries of Environment and Health, NAFDAC, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) and other agencies was responsible for developing the policy.
The framework also makes provision for capacity building of personnel, deployment of appropriate treatment technologies including incineration and non-burn alternatives, and establishment of monitoring and evaluation systems across the 36 states and the FCT.
Stakeholders at the launch called for strict enforcement, adequate financing and the enactment of a dedicated Healthcare Waste Management Bill by the National Assembly to give legal backing to the policy.
