The healthcare facilities in provinces and cities in Vietnam discharge nearly 340 tons of solid medical waste per day, the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported July 9, citing the Vietnam Environment Administration. Of the total, more than 40 tons are toxic and in need of special treatment process, the administration said. The volume of medical waste is estimated to rise by 7.6% every year and to reach 600 tons a day by 2015 and 800 tons by 2020. A number of hospitals and clinics nationwide have halted the operation of medical waste treatment systems due to financial difficulties, the administration added. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said his agency will work with the Ministry of Health to reduce medical waste-caused environment pollution as well as invest treatment networks at hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the next three years. Vietnam now has nearly 200 incinerators which receive and treat medical waste from 435 hospitals out of 854 hospitals nationwide, statistics from the Ministry of Health showed.
