A new healthcare waste management facility has been officially established in Kaafu Dhiffushi, in a significant step towards strengthening safe and sustainable waste-handling systems across the Maldivian health sector.

The facility is part of a USD 4.4 million project funded by the Government of Japan and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) between 2022 and 2025. The initiative aims to modernise healthcare waste management nationwide, ensuring environmental protection and safer public health practices.

According to project partners, the Dhiffushi installation brings the total number of healthcare waste management sites established across the Maldives to 21. The wider programme has also equipped Thuraakunu and Thakandhoo health centres with autoclaves, and provided 65 electric tricycles for clean-energy waste transport.

Capacity-building has been a major component of the initiative, with 656 healthcare workers, 90 per cent of them women, trained in safe waste-handling procedures in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). The project has additionally strengthened digital systems by supplying 270 computer systems and 40 network switches, while new healthcare equipment, including autoclave machines and laboratory devices, has been procured to support long-term sustainability.