This study was carried out to define and assess the health care waste management (HCWM) in official and private hospitals all over Iraq, in addition to the public health centers (PHC) focusing on the development of a short and medium term plan of action and estimating the real needs of sound management. About 43% of official hospitals lack from big containers for collecting and segregating of health care wastes. All hospitals are in lack of proper unites of treatment and disposal of hazardous liquid wastes while 65% of hospitals are deficient of incinerators. Most of health institutions do not have adequate well trained staff to handle such health care wastes particularly in official hospitals. However, generated hazardous solid wastes had been studied and found to be about half a ton per month in official hospitals, 167 kg per each private hospitals and 83.3 kg of the PHC center. Accordingly, a short term and medium term plans of action have been formulated.

Keywords : HCWM, PHC, Official Hospitals, Private Hospitals, Incinerators.