Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment ›› 2021, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (8): 953-961.doi: 10.19741/j.issn.1673-4831.2020.0828

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Study on the Current Status of Medical Waste Management and Its Improvement in China

MA Jie1, ZHANG Cheng2, ZHANG Ai-guo2, ZHANG Hou-hu2   

  1. 1. Education and Teaching Research Management Center, Qinghai Vocational College of Police Officers, Xining 810009, China;
    2. Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
  • Received:2020-10-13 Online:2021-08-25 Published:2021-08-27

Abstract: Medical waste management is related to the overall situation of public health safety and epidemic prevention and control. Based on the statistical data on the current status of medical waste generation, treatment and disposal in China, in addition to the official management policies and practices, the following common issues related to current medical waste management have been revealed:various different statistical scales, insufficient information management, lacking of self-disposal supporting standards, and insufficient researches on harmless ways of its utilization, a mismatch between supply and disposal capacity, unbalanced distribution of disposal facilities, etc. Finally, considering the impact of the updated status of the epidemic on the treatment and disposal of medical waste, corresponding prospects are put forward in terms of system matching, process connection, implementation, supervision and management, as well as layout optimization. The national and local governments are recommended to take a multi-pronged approach to accelerate the timely update and improvement of the existing management system, to increase the investment in the missing supporting standards, to strengthen research on the recycling path of infusion bottles (bags). And in order to optimize the layout of medical waste disposal facilities, it is necessary to take measures of medical waste classification and distribution management, and combine centralized disposal with emergency disposal. The information statistics paths can be improved via the interconnection of medical waste information management with the establishment of efficient supply and demand docking platforms. Through the synchronous promotion of urban and rural management, to further promote the establishment of a modern system for urban and rural medical waste treatment, to improve the formation of multi-party linkage of information supervision and law enforcement, and to firmly guard the defense line of people's livelihood.

Key words: public health, medical waste, disposal capacity, environmental management

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