A number of hospitals in Vietnam have successfully treated and reused their waste water with support from the World Bank.

The USD150m Vietnam - Hospital Waste Management Support Project is financed by the World Bank for the 2011-2017 period (illustrative photo: dantri)

The USD150m Vietnam - Hospital Waste Management Support Project is financed by the World Bank for the 2011-2017 period. It aims to reduce environmental degradation and the potential risks for human health through the improved management of healthcare waste.

Five years after the project was started, over 200 hospitals in Vietnam successfully implemented a new financial mechanism which has generated positive results. The hospital must prove that their waste treatment system meets various criteria in national standards such as the treated wastewater can be used to water plants.

Many hospitals including Gia Rai General Hospital in Bac Lieu Province and Nghe An Friendship General Hospital take this as an opportunity to improve their environments with more flower beds, ponds and gardens maintained by the treated water.

Hospitals with less land such as the National Institute of Burns grow a garden right in the waste treatment area.

The National Institute of Burns is also the first hospital to be funded to install the monitoring and control system with Japanese technology which has been highly praised by the project management board. The waste water is approved by the Institute of Occupational Health and the Environment and the Institute of Natural Products Chemistry.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed on a decision to extend the project to two more years, which will last till August 30, 2019, so that more hospitals can implement the model./.

( VNF/DTnews )