The state-owned Oman Environmental Services Holding Company SAOC (OESHCO) is formulating a national strategy to manage the large volumes of ‘potentially lethal’ clinical (medical) waste generated by the country’s vast healthcare infrastructure.

Around 87 per cent of all medical waste generated in the Sultanate comes from hospitals and healthcare instituted managed by the Ministry of Health, as well as those run by Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Ministry of Defence, Royal Oman Police and Petroleum Development Oman. Private healthcare institutions contribute around 3-4 per cent of the total volume.

Current market capacities for processing, treatment and disposal are inadequate to ensure a safe and sustainable healthcare waste management programme for the entire Sultanate. While some of the larger hospitals have in-house incinerators to treat medical waste, others dispose of their waste at municipal landfills and dumpsites.

It will be a relatively small operation, though nonetheless complex and worthy. Good luck to all of those involved.

http://www.omanet.om/english/0news/viewdetails.asp?id=21843