National Healthcare Waste Management Strategic Plan.

This Strategic Plan, developed under the National Healthcare Waste Management Policy of 2016, is an integrated countrywide system to implement the Policy and its Vision to "Ensuring that all waste generated within the health sector is managed without adverse effects on human health and environment in an integrated manner that is environmentally and economically sustainable".
The Plan identifies 5 Strategy Priorities as follows (i) improving the legal framework for healthcare waste management; (ii) improving knowledge management and capacity building; (iii) implementing an integrated healthcare waste management system; (iv) improving and adapting national and local monitoring and evaluation process; and (v) resource mobilization, including physical, financial, technical, and human capacity to achieve the Strategic Plan. For each priority area, objectives are identified to implement the Plan, which requires that all different kinds of waste generated in healthcare facilities (general waste, infectious and sharp waste, pharmaceutical waste, pathological waste, hazardous waste and chemical waste) need planned measures to be managed for each step from point of generation to disposal. Great importance is given to the factor of awareness to change behavior, in both policymakers and focal persons of the healthcare facilities.
As for the Governance, the Ministry of Health plays the role of coordination of the process of implementation and monitoring and it is responsible for the regular analysis and evaluation of the annual reports on the status of implementation. Furthermore, the annual action plans developed by the councils of cities, atolls and islands will contribute to the implementation of the Strategic Plan. Decisions on the adjustments of the Plan will be taken based on monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of these local annual plans.