The Ministry of Health plans to determine by the end of 2018 the amount of medical waste at all private health institutions, based on the Law on Waste Management.
Data on the amount and type of waste were collected on the basis of submitted waste management plans of individual health institutions.
The waste management plans of health centers also apply to all their organizational units outside the headquarters of the institution, and the Montefarm pharmacy institution to all pharmacy institutions in the territory of Montenegro.
Pursuant to the Law on Waste Management, a waste producer who annually produces more than 200 kilograms of hazardous waste or more than 20 tons of non-hazardous waste is required to draw up a waste management plan.
According to the Law, medical waste is that which is generated by providing health services and conducting scientific research and experiments in the field of medicine.
It is divided into hazardous medical waste and waste, which was created in healthcare institutions, and in its characteristics is similar to municipal waste.
In healthcare institutions in Montenegro, waste is sorted at the point of origin and the waste is transported to a temporary storage facility located within the institution.
Exceptions are the Berane General Hospital and the Clinical Center of Montenegro in Podgorica, where the waste is taken by cart to the Medical Waste Treatment Center Ekomedika DOO.
"The training of waste sorting personnel, which is located within these health institutions, although training has been conducted several times and written instructions have been provided, is not at a satisfactory level," according to the Ministry of Health.
For this reason, as stated, additional training and the establishment of written procedures are required at every place where hazardous waste is generated.
"It is necessary to improve the equipment of health institutions with appropriate equipment for handling waste, as well as equipment for occupational protection of persons who are in contact with medical waste", says the information of the Ministry of Health on the medical waste management plan from 2016 to 2020.
It is emphasized that insufficient material and human resources, lack of knowledge about health risks and insufficient control are the most common problems related to medical waste management.
"In order to reduce the amount of waste in the coming period, it is necessary for health institutions to improve the system of selective collection of hazardous waste and carry out selective collection of communal waste," the Ministry states.
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