IGNOU - School of Health Sciences (SOHS) - Programmes - Distance - Certificate in Health Care Waste Management (CHCWM)

Target Group: Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Health Managers and other professional workers.

The concern for bio-medical waste management has been felt globally with the rise in deadly infections such as AIDS, Hepatitis-B and indiscriminate disposal of health care waste. The United Nations through UN Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal has classified health care waste as the most hazardous waste, after radioactive waste.

According to WHO, every year an estimated 16 billion injections are administered world wide, but not all of the needles and syringes are properly disposed off afterwards. In 2010, unsafe injections were still responsible for as many as 33 800 new HIV infections, 1.7 million hepatitis B infections and 315 000 hepatitis C infections. A person who experiences one needle stick injury from a needle used on an infected source patient has risks of 30%, 1.8%, and 0.3% respectively of becoming infected with HBV, HCV and HIV.

The main bottleneck to sound health care waste management programme is lack of training and appropriate skills, insufficient resource allocation and lack of adequate equipment. Thus the need to educate different health care professionals/workers, NGOs and other stake holders was identified as a priority. To cater the needs of these health care professionals, IGNOU and WHO, SEARO decided to develop and launch a Certificate Programme in Health Care Waste Management in the South-East Asia Region Countries.

The certficate programme has been developed inline with the Bio-Medical Waste Management (BMWM) rules 2016 of Government of India and safe management of waste from health-care activities, WHO 2014. The aim of the programme is to create essential knowledge and skills in health care waste and equip the learners to manage it effectively and safely and safeguard the community against adverse health impact of health care waste.

The broad Objectives of the programme are to:

Sensitise the learners about health care waste and its impact on health and environment.
Acquaint the learner group to existing legislation, knowledge and practices regarding health care waste Management practices in South East Asia Region countries.
Equip the learner with skills to manage health care waste effectively and safely.

CourseCode	Course Name	Credits
BHMP-101	Project (BHMP-001)	2
BHME-101	Inter-relationship between health and environment	2
BHME-102	Worker safety and patient safety	2
BHM-103	Current Status of Health Care Waste Management and Legislation in the Regional Countries	2
BHME-104	Managerial and Systems Approach	2
BHME-105	Special considerations of Waste Management	2
BHME-106	Administrative and Legal Aspects of Waste Management	2
BHML-101	Workshop (BHML-101)	2

Admission Procedure

Admission cycle of this programme is from January to June and July to December every year. Admission in the CHCWM Programme will be offered through the common prospectus of IGNOU available at all Regional Centres of IGNOU. Visit the IGNOU website for applying online for admission.

Implementation

The programme is implemented through a network of Programme Study Centres (PSCs). These Programme Study Centres are located in health care institutions like medical colleges/hospitals, state pollution control boards, UGC recognised or accepted Universities, NGO’s involved in the training for bio-medical waste management etc. A team of trained teachers called counsellors have been identified and trained for providing academic counselling and project evaluation in the Programme Study Centres. The administrative control is through the Regional Centres (RCs) of IGNOU located usually at state capitals and the School of Health Sciences (SOHS) located at the IGNOU Headquarters, Delhi, India.

Programme Package

A multimedia package consists of print material in the form of booklets called blocks, audio-visual materials, counseling, radiocounselling, assignments, project and workshop in established Programme Study Centres (PSC). The programme has two theory courses of 6 credits each, (one credit is equivalent to 30 learning hours) , which are compulsory and 8 optional courses of two credits each, which include 6 elective courses, one project and one workshop. The student is expected to take any two of the optional courses, so as to undergo a course work of 16 credits. The students can opt for a project. They also have the option to undergo a face to face training in a workshop mode. The learners can also access interactive self-learning material, programme/course relates material anytime, anywhere, through the web support platform. They can interact with the peers, and counselors synchronously and asynchronously using discussion forums, chat and video conferencing facility.

Continuous Evaluation of Theory Component - Assignments

Assignment is a means of continuing assessment of the theory with a weightage of 30%. These assignments consist of a set of questions and activities that a student is required to undertake at his own place by referring to the blocks. Assignments help to recapitulate the theory. Thus assignments also help to reinforce learning in distance learning system of education. The assignments carry thirty percent weightage. Students are required to obtain forty percent marks as pass percentage in each assignment separately.

Term-end Examination

Term-end examination for theory is held twice in a year i.e. in the month of June/December. There will be one paper for each of the theory/elective coursesheaving a weightage of 70% . A student has to secure at least 40% of the marks in each of the theory/elective papers for successful completion.

A student could appear in one or more papers of the theory/elective courses at a time. For appearing in the theory term-end examination, the student should fulfill two requisites, i.e. filling up the form in time and timely submission of assignments related to that theory paper or the papers that he/she want to appear. The theory term end examination form is available on the IGNOU website.

Project Evaluation

The project is an optional course. The project report submitted by the student will be evaluated by an examiner. The project would be assessed out of a total of 100 marks. A minimum of forty percent marks has to be scored in the project for being for qualified for the certificate. In case a student does not score the required marks the student will have to repeat the project.

Workshop

Workshop is an optional course. The students opting for this course will be required to undergo a face-to-face workshop of two to three days in the PSC. They will also be required to do some pre-workshop and post workshop assignments and activities. The workshop will help you to comprehend the subject better and equip you to apply the knowledge in your institution.

Certification

After successful completion of all the courses, a student is awarded a certificate for CHCWM programme.

Programme Details

S.No.	Course Title	Nature of Course	Course Code
1.	Fundamentals: Environment and Health, Health Care Waste Management Regulations	Theory	BHM-101
2.	Health Care Waste Management : Concepts, Technologies and Training	Theory	BHM-102
3.	Inter-relationship between health and environment	Elective	BHME-101
4.	Worker safety and patient safety	Elective	BHME-102
5.	Current Status of Health Care Waste Management and Legislation in the Regional Countries	Elective	BHME-103
6.	Managerial and Systems approach	Elective	BHME-104
7.	Special considerations of Waste Management	Elective	BHME-105
8.	Administrative and Legal Aspects of Waste Management	Elective	BHME-106
9.	Project	Project	BHMP-101
10.	Workshop	Practical	BHML-101

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Certificate in Health Care Waste Management (CHCWM)

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