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A recent meeting at the University of Medical Sciences in Ondo town, Ondo State, brought together experts to discuss the critical issue of healthcare waste management in Nigeria. 

The gathering highlighted the alarming lack of knowledge among health workers, inadequate data, and low public awareness of the dangers posed by healthcare waste.

Professor Adesegun Fatusi, the Vice Chancellor of the university, emphasized the importance of addressing this issue, stating, “UNIMED has led the way by devising healthcare waste management guidelines for its campuses. This should be taken to the national level.” He further explained that the meeting aimed to brainstorm ways to improve healthcare waste management in Nigeria.

The experts at the meeting recommended several key actions to tackle this issue. These include:

– State Government Policies: Enacting policies, regulations, and statutes to promote good practice in healthcare waste management.

– Budgetary Provisions: Federal and state governments should make specific budgetary provisions for healthcare waste management.

– Expanded Environmental Health Workforce: Increasing the workforce to facilitate the implementation of existing policies.

– Education and Training: Providing education and training for health workers in waste management.

Professor Leroy Edozien, Dean of the Faculty of Health Law and Humanities, stressed the urgency of addressing healthcare waste management, saying, “Healthcare waste is any waste produced in hospitals, laboratories, research facilities, and homes as a result of medical procedures. Healthcare waste poses harm to health workers, the public, and the environment. So there is a need for urgent action from the stakeholders .”

The meeting’s theme, “Legal, policy, and implementation issues in healthcare waste management,” underscored the need for a comprehensive approach to tackling this critical issue in Nigeria.

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