A study of medical waste management covering public and private health facilities in Moldova was carried. According to specialists, the subject is more topical than ever as the COVID-19 pandemic generated huge quantities of medical waste. The results of the research will be presented in a national conference on April 1.
The study was carried out by the Preventive Medicine Department of “Nicolae Testemiţanu” State University of Medicine and Pharmacy in concert with the National Public Health Agency, under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and with financing from Soros Foundation Moldova.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, Luminița Guțu, university lecturer, of the Preventive Medicine Department, said the goal of the study was to assess the waste management process so as to formulate recommendations for optimizing it and to reduce the risks to the population and the environment.
According to the lecturer, the report contains an analysis of the legislation on wastes from helath-care activities. There will be presented a comprehensive analysis with the weak and strong points of the legal provisions in the field. The findings showed the legislation generally meets the international requirements. “The Republic of Moldova obeys the requirements concerning the development of legislation and policies and the recommendations of the European Union and the international community. As regards the implementation, we will speak about this in the conference on April 1. We will present interesting reports about the results, topicality, correlation, etc.” stated Luminița Guțu.
Vasile Sofroni, university lecturer of the same Department, said that nine specialists, among who were epidemiologists, worked on this study. Managers of public institutions and, in a lower number, of private institutions, such as private clinics and hospitals, took an active part in this study. The study also covered the self-assessment of institutions based on a questionnaire and the verification of the authenticity of data from the local level.
Vadim Rață, epidemiologist of the National Public Health Agency, said the COVID-19 pandemic led to much larger costs associated with the management of the larger medical waste. The medical institutions face difficulties in managing this waste. Not all of them have own installations for neutralizing such waste and need to sign contracts with private companies.
The national conference “Management of wastes from health-care activities” will be held at the Preventive Medicine Department on April 1.
IPN News Agency gives the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements of the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.
