The Gambian Minister of Health, Ahmadou Lamin Samateh, has launched the construction of a medical waste treatment centre in Farato, in the West Coast region of The Gambia. The plant will be equipped with the "Ecosteryl 250" system, capable of processing between 250 kg and 300 kg of clinical waste per hour. The work is being financed through a $37 million grant from the World Bank.
In the Gambia, medical waste management is an urgent need to safeguard public health, especially in the context of the Covid 19 pandemic. In order to dispose of this waste quickly and in a “healthy” way, the Gambian government has acquired a state-of-the-art equipment called “Ecosteryl 250”. According to the Ecosteryl manufacturing company, the system chosen by The Gambia has no harmful effects: “no water, no vapour, no odour, no discharge, no radiation”.
The new equipment will be installed in a medical waste treatment plant. The facility will be located in Farato, in the West Coast region of The Gambia. With the Ecosteryl 250, the future centre will be able to treat between 250 kg and 300 kg of clinical waste per hour with a disinfection efficiency of 99.9%.
World Bank funding
The plant will treat infectious, pathological, radioactive and pharmaceutical waste. The waste will be collected from the health care facilities by four trucks. The medical waste processing centre will certainly be busy following the launch of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign on March 10th, 2021 by Gambian President Adama Barrow. The Gambia has received 36,000 doses of Astra-Zeneca vaccine as part of the Covax initiative.
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According to the Gambia’s Ministry of Health, the construction of the medical waste treatment centre is being funded through a $37 million grant from the World Bank. According to the same source, the Farato medical waste treatment plant is expected to be delivered in four months.
“In the Gambia, medical waste poses a high risk to doctors, nurses, drivers, technicians, hospital visitors and the patients themselves due to its arbitrary use. With the construction of the Farato centre, we hope to improve the treatment of this waste in the country,” says Ahmadou Lamin Samateh, the Gambian Minister of Health. According to him, the project will help stop the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.
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