A hospital where hazardous waste is not properly managed, cannot give a quality services to the patient. The government should have an adequate frame work to address the issue on a national level. Realizing this need, National Health Research Council (NHRC) has come up with “National Health Care Waste Management (HCWM) guidelines in may 2002 with the support of WHO. The number of hospitals, private nursing homes, health care centers and health post has increased over the last decade. This ever increasing health care institutions and improper handling of medical wastes have posed a serious threat to the urban dwellers, especially in Kathmandu where the generations of medical wastes is very high. So far there is no separate mechanism for the treatment of medical waste. Both the medical waste and general household waste are being finally treated together as municipal waste. The mismanagement of infectious waste and irresponsibility of medical facilities can cause a major public and occupational health hazard, resulting in the spread of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B.

Proper management of HCW can prevent cross infection and spreads of infectious disease. Unfortunately, this aspect is completely ignored in most of the health care institutions in our country. In many cases, waste handling is left to lower level of workers who carry on this job without any training, guidance and even supervision. Lack of proper legislation commitment and dedication by the management position, lack of proper financial resources and training facilities are the sole reasons for the pathetic health care waste management issue in the developing countries.