Jointly organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Tsinghua University/Basel Convention Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific (BCRC China), a webinar titled “Learning from China’s Experience to Improve Epidemic Prevention and Control in Asia and the Pacific Region” was successfully held from September 8 to September 9, 2021. The webinar was hosted by UNDP, organized by Tsinghua University/BCRCAP and the China National Health Development Research Center (CNHDRC), and co-organized by Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Center of Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEESCC). A total of 178 delegates from 17 countries including Cambodia, China, UK, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand and Turkey attended the webinar.
Speech for the opening ceremony
This webinar served as an important part of an ongoing UNDP regional assistance project titled “Learning from China’s Experience to Improve the Ability of Response to Covid-19 in Asia and the Pacific Region”. The project, which is funded and supported by the Government of China through the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund (SSCAF), aims to improve medical waste management in other countries in the Asia-Pacific Region by sharing China’s experience, so as to promote effective responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in Cambodia, Nepal, Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Myanmar. Knowledge sharing under this project also goes beyond the COVID-19 response to look at how we can reduce people’s vulnerability to future shocks and overcome the inequalities in medical services exposed by the pandemic.
The opening ceremony was chaired by Ms. Liu Renfei, Senior Advisor to the Permanent Representative of UNDP and Assistant to the Country Director. The webinar was addressed by Mr. Zhang Yi, Deputy Director General of the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), Ms. Xu Ling, Secretary of the Discipline Committee of the CNHDRC, Mr. Sun Shaofeng, Director of the Hazardous Waste Management Division of MEESCC, Mr. Li Jinhui, Executive Director of Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific/Professor of the School of Environment of Tsinghua University, and Mr. Devanand Ramiah, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP China.
The two-day webinar was divided into five sessions: (1) China’s experience in healthcare waste management; (2) Methods and technologies for healthcare waste treatment and disposal in China; (3) International standards and advanced experiences in healthcare waste management; (4) Topics on enhancing prevention and control capacity of medical institutions - based on solid waste treatment and hospital infection control; and (5) Challenges in responding to Covid-19 in the Asia-Pacific region - perspectives from regional countries.
The first session, “China’s experience in healthcare waste management”, was moderated by Ms. Zhao Nana, Assistant Director of BCRC China/Associate Researcher of School of Environment, Tsinghua University. Zheng Yang, Deputy Director of the Hazardous Waste Management Technology Department of the MEESCC, introduced China's hazardous waste management policies. Dr. Hao Xiaoning from CNHDRC gave an online presentation titled “Closed-loop Healthcare Waste Management: The Last Kilometer of Infection Control in Hospitals”. Senior Engineer Jiang Wenbo from the Hazardous Waste Management Technology Department of the MEESCC introduced China’s policies on healthcare waste management; Dr. Wu Chenbo from the Solid Waste and Chemicals Center of Hubei Province shared local experience on healthcare waste management during Covid-19.
“Challenges in responding to Covid-19 in the Asia-Pacific region - perspectives from regional countries”: presentations & discussion
In the last session, “Challenges in responding to Covid-19 in the Asia-Pacific region - perspectives from regional countries”, delegates from countries targeted by UNDP project, including Nepal, Cambodia, Philippines, and Lao PDR, were invited to share the current situation and challenges of sanitation and healthcare waste management during Covid-19. This session was moderated by Mr. Rajesh Sharma, Project Specialist in Disaster Risk Reduction Unit of UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub. Delegates from the four countries gave detailed presentations on their local status quo and challenges of healthcare waste management during the response to Covid-19, including Dr. Surendra Charasia from the Environmental Health and Healthcare Waste Management Section under Department of Health Services, Nepal; Mr. Nimesh Dhakal, Technical Specialist from UNDP Representative Office in Nepal; Dr. So Nakry, Deputy Director of Department of Hospital Services, Ministry of Health, Cambodia; Dr. Mr. June Philip Ruiz, Senior Development Management Officer from Health Facility Development Bureau under Department of Health, Philippines.
This webinar provided valuable experience for both Chinese and international government officials, experts and practitioners in the public health and medical services sectors, and further strengthened the role of Asia-Pacific Region in responding to Covid-19.
