World Bank Helps Vietnam Build VND123B Medical Waste Treatment Plant

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and World Bank officials on August 25 worked with authorities in the central province of Quang Ngai on a project to build a medical waste treatment plant costing VND123 billion ($5.45 million) in the locality. Quang Ngai has become the first province to receive over VND101 billion worth of funding from the bank to build a concentrated area for medical waste treatment. The remaining sum will be reciprocal capital sourced from the local budget from 2015 to 2017. The project, to be implemented through 2017, will upgrade the current solid waste management systems in local healthcare facilities and build an area to treat toxic waste from hospitals and healthcare stations in the province. It targets to process 400 kilograms of medical waste per day and provide training courses for medical workers to raise awareness and capacity in waste management. Since March 29, 2011, World Bank is committed to giving Vietnam total $150 million via its lending arm International Development Association (IDA) for hospital waste management support project till end August 2017. The bank had disbursed $24.76 million as of July 31. According to statistics from the Ministry of Health Environment Management Agency, the 1,300 or so state-run and private hospitals discharge more than 380 tons of medical waste a day, 40 tons of which are considered harmful. Nearly half of the hospitals had storehouses to hold medical waste until it was treated - or otherwise disposed of, and only 50% properly classified waste before recycling or disposal. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te – Economic Times Aug 26 p3, worldbank.org)