PATH, with support from UNICEF, is working to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate health care waste management models in two pilot townships in Myanmar. Improper health care waste management, including the unsafe disposal of used syringes and needles, can increase the likelihood of accidents among health workers. PATH trained health staff on good immunization waste management practices, introduced needle and hub cutters for health staff—devices used to separate the potentially infectious needle from the syringe body, and assigned and constructed safe disposal sites for sharps and infectious waste.

These validated health care waste management models will help the Myanmar Ministry of Health Sports and Occupational and Environmental Health Division to minimize the environmental, occupational, and community health risks from health care waste generated at health facilities and by community-based midwives.