Regional Workshop on medical waste management in the light of the experience of the Lebanese and Arab countries

According to the Arab countries requests to exchange their successful experiences in the field of hazardous waste management and according to the request of the Lebanese state in presenting its successful story in the medical waste management, BCRC-Egypt organized a regional workshop for three days for officials technicians related to medical waste management in the Arab countries, to explore the Lebanese experience in the medical waste management compared to the other Arab states experiences.

 Objectives

 Present the Lebanese government success story in the field of medical waste management.

• Present a number of successful projects in the field of persistent organic pollutants management in Lebanon
• Emphasis on the role of NGOs in participation in the medical waste management in Lebanon.
• Present the other Arab countries experiences  in the field of medical waste management

 Participants

The workshop targeted the National technical officials involved in medical waste management. There were 10 participants from 9 Arab countries which were: Republic of Djibouti, Arab Republic of Egypt, Kingdom of Morocco, Republic of Sudan, Mauritania, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Somalia

The Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was mastered by Mrs. Viviane Sassen, the workshop General Coordinator. The opening words were delivered by:

• Edgar Shehab, UN Development Program Assistant Program Coordinator.
• Inas Abdel Azim, Representative of the League of Arab States
• Dr. Mustafa Hussein Kamel, Director of BCRC-Egypt
• Mohammed Hanged, Lebanese Minister of Environment

Summary

The workshop, through its sessions, addressed many issues related to:

• Medical Hazardous waste management in Lebanon
• Hazardous waste management in various Arab countries

Recommendations

• Preparation of a unified Arab booklet for medical waste management (solid and liquid to be a unified reference for all Arab countries.
• To achieve inter-Arab cooperation in the field of waste management and display what has been accomplished under the Basel Convention, accordingly
• Intensify efforts in the field of awareness, as well as the exchange of experiences with regard to hazardous waste management in general and the management of medical waste in particular.
• Paying attention to rural areas, with improving information collecting and sharing about the medical waste at a regional level.
• Classification of the Arab countries into two groups according to their abilities and their standards in waste management where each country can take advantage of the appropriate technology according to its ability.
• The importance of the exchange of experiences among Arab countries under the umbrella of BCRC-Egypt.
• Generalize the successful projects, directories, regulations and laws that are going on in some Arab countries on other Arab states.
• Present the most recent technologies used in health care waste treatment facilities and the feasibility of taking advantage of them in developed countries
• Explore the novel trends to dump the medical waste.