Evolutionary Study of Environmental Culture and Medical Waste Regulation in Healthcare Law

Abstract

African countries have shown increasing interest in environmental considerations in medical law. The article examines issues of Evolutionary Study of Environmental Culture and Medical Waste Regulation in Healthcare Law. The study shows how healthcare institutions and society have developed a sense of responsibility towards the environment, particularly in managing healthcare waste, and the cultural shifts towards sustainable practices. The article uses the analytical approach to analyze legal texts in international law and national laws. The article also relies on the comparative approach in comparing the national laws of countries. The article focuses more specifically on approaches to the management of medical waste in National laws, and identifies the three categories defined by legislations which are: waste consisting of human organs, infectious waste, and toxic waste. The article includes a comparison of the approach taken by national laws, since it was decided in countries to have provisions relating to technical requirements for each special category of waste (human, infectious, and toxic). In general, there are technical conditions, including the color of the bag and container that is used to collect it, where it was decided to use the color of green for waste consisting of bodily organs, the color of yellow for the collection of infectious waste and the color red for toxic waste. After examining and comparing the laws, the study shows the following results: national laws realize the importance of the legal definition and regulation of various kinds of medical waste. All legal systems place the responsibility for the removal of medical waste on its producer, and the producer bears the financial cost of disposal.