| Author | Yu Lay Sein |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.UE-97-10 |
| Subject(s) | Refuse and refuse disposal--Myanmar--Yangon
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The environmental issues with regards to the hospital waste management system in Yangon
City are manifold. The Yangon City Development Committee is responsible for solid waste
management in the city. The hospital wastes are not separated and are disposed together with
the other hazardous and domestic waste in Yangon City. Most of the wastewater generated by
the hospitals is also discharged to the sewage systems without treatment, thereby affecting
human health and the environment.
The inadequacies in the current hospital waste management practices in Yangon are mainly
defined in the aspects of ineffective segregation at source, inappropriate collection method and
unsafe storage of waste. In addition, the inappropriate practices of disposing hospital waste
together with general waste in municipal landfill sites are compounding the problem. The
other issues that need considering, are lack of appropriate protective equipment and clothing
for staff handling the infectious waste, lack of training and clear lines of responsibilities
between the departments involved in hospital waste management.
As a start off, an adhoc or temporary emergency management system could be used to
eliminate the inadequacies in the present HWM system. This system is simple, easy and not
costly to manage. The inadequacies in the present system are in the form of lack of specific
policies, guidelines and standards with regards to hospital waste management. To fill these
gaps recommendations are made to formulate a hospital waste management system delineating
responsibilities for the various actors. It is prudent to formulate the policies and strategies
based on the guidelines proposed by WHO for developing countries for an efficient hospital
waste management system. To formulate national and local level policies on HWM, specific
committees at different levels national, state and local, are recommended to facilitate policy
formulation and implementation. In addition, an action plan was proposed to initiate the
process till the recommendations and implementation mechanisms of the committees are
adopted.
An action plan detailing out the specific objectives, key indicators and responsible actors is
formulated, which can serve as a model that can be adopted for other urban areas in the
country. This can also constitute an important component of the policy on Hospital Waste
Management for Myanmar. |
| Year | 1998 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Zimmermann, Willi; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Amin, A.T.M. Nurul;Ha, Sung Ryong ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation;
Canadian Universities Consortium (CUC); |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1998 |