Hospital Waste: Nature, Regulations and Policy

As the link between health and environmental quality is receiving due attention, the commitment to safeguard the environment from both the physical and social impacts associated with hospital waste is growing. Many aspects of human well-being are influenced by the environment and many diseases can be initiated, promoted, sustained or stimulated by environmental factors. Environmental health is a segment of public health and thus the environmental health professionals need to formulate policies which would check the indiscriminate dumping of infectious waste and incorporate the element of accountability. Although the Notification of rules to regulate hospital waste was issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India in 1998 and subsequently revised in 2012, hospitals and nursing homes are yet to react to it seriously thus posing constraints to the safe and rational management of hospital waste. This paper focuses on the Indian and international legal scenario with respect to hospital waste. It is clear that there is a lacuna in the implementation of policies and gross violation of human rights.