Certificate in Health Care Waste Management (CHCWM)

Target Group:   Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Health Managers and other professional workers.

The concern for bio-medical waste management has been felt globally with the rise in deadly infections such as AIDS, Hepatitis-B and indiscriminate disposal of health care waste. The United Nations through UN Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal has classified health care waste as the most hazardous waste, after radioactive waste.

According to WHO, every year an estimated 16 billion injections are administered world wide, but not all of the needles and syringes are properly disposed off afterwards. In 2010, unsafe injections were still responsible for as many as 33 800 new HIV infections, 1.7 million hepatitis B infections and 315 000 hepatitis C infections. A person who experiences one needle stick injury from a needle used on an infected source patient has risks of 30%, 1.8%, and 0.3% respectively of becoming infected with HBV, HCV and HIV.