Iraqi hospitals under fire for mishandling hazardous medical waste
Improper disposal of hazardous medical waste by Iraqi hospitals and clinics is creating an environmental and public health crisis, experts say, with growing concerns over contaminated materials being dumped alongside regular household garbage.
Samim Salam, head of the Euphrates Environmental Center, told Shafaq News on Sunday that both public and private healthcare facilities are failing to separate medical waste —such as blood-stained items, tissue, and chemical residues—from general waste streams.
'This reckless behavior significantly increases the risk of environmental contamination, especially to soil and groundwater,' Salam warned. 'The most alarming concern is the exposure of sanitation workers and informal waste collectors to potentially virus- or bacteria-laden materials, which could lead to invisible public health disasters.'
He pointed out that many private medical centers view waste management as a financial burden and cut corners, despite being legally classified as investment projects required to install specialized systems for handling hazardous waste under official supervision.
According to Iraq's Medical Waste Management Regulation No. 1 of 2015, healthcare facilities must separate and treat medical waste from the point of generation to final disposal. 'Noncompliance with these regulations is a direct violation of Iraqi environmental law and could lead to legal consequences,' Salam emphasized.
Official data from the Ministry of Environment indicated that Iraq generates more than 20,000 tons of medical waste annually. Salam noted that most of this is handled using primitive methods or mixed with regular waste, due to weak oversight and a lack of certified incinerators.
He added that World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines stress the need for isolating and sterilizing medical waste—especially from isolation wards, emergency units, and labs—in dedicated facilities. These recommendations, he said, are frequently ignored in Iraq.
'With increasing medical waste following the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing number of healthcare institutions in major cities, regulatory authorities must ramp up inspections,' Salam said, urging citizens to report any suspicious disposal practices.
'Protecting the environment is a shared responsibility,' he concluded. 'It starts with professional compliance inside medical institutions and continues with strong state oversight. Ultimately, this affects the health of the entire population.'
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