Medical waste crisis in Sanaa, Yemen

Problems

• The al-Azraqain landfill receives 2,000 tonnes of waste a day, including dangerous untreated medical waste

  On 60th Street, in the center of Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, hundreds of tons of solid waste are collected and accumulated together with medical waste, 20% of which are hazardous to the environment and the health of the population.
  
  All this waste is transported outside the city and buried inside the main landfill in the Al-Azraqain area, in the district of Bani Al-Harith, which is mostly agricultural crop-producing lands.
  
  This landfill Al-Azraqain, located in the direction of the north winds, receives waste from three governorates. It is estimated at 1,500 tons a day, according to the Emergency Waste Assessment (UNDP).

• A landfill for Three Governorates

  Al-Azraqain landfill receives waste from 3 governorates: Amanat Al-Asimah, Sana’a Governorate, and Amran, and all of them always dump healthcare waste mixed with general solid waste, which could result in serious pollution.
  
  Amanat Al-Asimah has recently had a population of about 5,850 million inhabitants- besides the population of Sana’a and Amran governorates, and all medical and general solid waste they generate is unhygienically disposed of in an exposed rudimentary landfill.
  
  As for the possibility of creating an engineered landfill for medical and hazardous waste, there are many studies on this, but there is neither a site nor the financial capacity to create it.

• Medical Waste and Exposed Dumpsites

  In Yemen, official dumpsites were chosen nearly 40 years ago. These dumpsites were located far away from population communities.
  
  However, due to vast urbanization and the increase in population during the last two decades, the official dumpsites became close to population communities. Therefore, the potential infection of public health in local communities has increased accordingly.
  
  Yemen has about 21 dumpsites for solid waste, 15 of which are exposed dumpsites. Moreover, the infrastructure, equipment, and waste collection vehicles of about half of those dumpsites have been damaged by the war.
  
  Solid waste in Yemen is estimated at more than 4 million tons per year, and according to the National Strategy for Medical Waste Management, medical waste in the country amounted to approximately 44769.6 tons in 2016, with hazardous waste constituting about 22% of that waste.
  
  The most common wrong method used to dispose of medical and clinical waste in Yemen is open dumping, where medical waste in cities is mixed with solid waste without undergoing any treatment, sorting, or disinfection before disposal, which causes more serious health risks.

• Sana’a: Pollution of Soil Layers and Water

  Due to the absence of a waste leachate collection system in local landfills, accumulated leachate, seeped with seasonal rainwaters and washed away by floods, can contaminate nearby lands and wells.
  Research from the landfill in Ibb governorate found that leachate – a liquid discharge from the landfill – was escaping the site and leading to heavy metal and bacteriological contamination in borehole water nearby.
  In Sana’a, talking to Holm Akhdar, the Director of Chemical Safety, Ali Al-Dhabhani, confirmed the contamination of several sites after taking samples of groundwater from wells near the Azraqain landfill.
  Located to the north of the capital, Arhab district – one of Sana’a Governorate districts- was badly affected by the pollution that affected the farmlands and groundwater.
  
  Open landfills in Yemeni cities have a host of threats affecting the entire ecological system, including food, water safety, and the health of communities.