In a conference room at a hotel in Cocody, Abidjan, health officials examined charts and maps. Ministry staff, technical partners and funders, both in-person and online, listened as slides lit up the screen mapping how waste moves through the hospital waste management system; revealing the system’s strengths, bottlenecks and impact.
“We see the problem every day,” said Dr. Bodou Yao, Sociologist and Hygienist at the Directorate of Public Hygiene and Environmental Health (DHPSE). “The volume of health care waste is increasing daily and many facilities still struggle with how to manage it safely.”
His remarks brought clarity to the technical diagrams, showing that this is not only a logistics problem but a human one. “We need a holistic approach that brings sociology and training into the center of technical solutions.”
Assessing the System
The workshop was held to assess health care waste management in the country, led by the DHPSE with technical and financial support from VillageReach, under the Gavi Strategic Focus Area project (GAVI SFA). It aimed to help the Ministry prepare the next National Healthcare Waste Management Plan (PNGDS 2026–2030). Poorly managed syringes, contaminated equipment and untreated pharmaceutical residues are not only an occupational hazard for waste handlers; they are vectors for infection, persistent environmental pollutants, and threats to public trust in health services.
Using Gavi’s health care waste management maturity model, the assessment gave the system an overall score of 2.8 out of 5, a number that signals progress but also underlines distance to international standards. The challenges include underfunding, uneven training, fragmented coordination between involved ministries and municipalities and dangerous coping practices such as open-air burning where incineration or sterilization is unavailable.
Yet the assessment also surfaced successes that suggest a pathway forward. At the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS) in Abidjan, the installation of ECODAS sterilizers means the center now destroys 100% of its health care waste. To the Regional Hospital Center (CHR) San Pedro reported the same result after adopting a SterilWave 100 sterilizer, and teams in San Pedro and Gbêkê health region consistently used color-coded bins in every facility visited. Those details matter. They show that, with the right equipment and routines, safety can be scaled.
The participants showed great interest during the presentation of the assessment results.
The Power of Partnership
“By working hand in hand with the Ivorian government, we affirm our commitment to building a more sustainable, safer, and resilient health system,” said Dr. Boni Assi Marie Paule, Program Manager Consultant at VillageReach. She described the workshop as “friendly and engaged,” noting the strong presence of partners, including the Global Fund, UNICEF, the World Bank and JHPIEGO, who attended the wokshop and contributed to the discussion. This coalition matters, because funding, procurement and operations must align across agencies if equipment and training are to move from pilot sites to national coverage.
Alassane Kamagate, who delivered the closing remarks on behalf of the partners and VillageReach, emphasized the collective responsibility in the room. “It is essential that we move from discussion to implementation,” Kamagate said. “The engagement we see here today from all partners is the engine that will drive this modernization.”
The findings in Abidjan are reinforced by a wider context. A recent case study analyzing waste management in both Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) highlights that strong national policies often struggle to translate into routine practice without three specific ingredients: investing in frontline people, simplifying facility-level tools, and securing predictable financing.
The Abidjan workshop confirmed that these three pillars are exactly where Côte d’Ivoire must focus next. The assessment’s authors outlined practical priorities that mirror those regional lessons:
- Governance: Strengthen multisectoral coordination.
- Workforce: Professionalize the sector with clear career paths.
- Technology: Adopt safe, green technologies nationwide.
- Financing: Mobilize sustainable funding through public-private partnerships.
In one conversation, a district nurse described how, before training and basic sorting bins, her team burned vaccination waste in the open. “Now we understand the risks—and we have alternatives,” she said.
Execution of the Strategy
Côte d’Ivoire now sits at a critical point. The previous national plan (PNGDS 2021–2025) provided a foundation; this rapid assessment has provided the map.
“The vision is simple,” Dr. Bodou Yao concluded. “A Côte d’Ivoire where health care workers, users of health facilities and the population benefit from adequate care without risk of disease or pollution caused by health care waste.”
What remains is execution. If partners can move with the same urgency and collaboration that filled the conference room in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire can build a health care waste system that protects people and the environment, not just on paper, but in practice.