The Maldives has developed a legal and institutional framework for managing healthcare waste as part of its broader environmental protection and waste-management system. Because the country consists of numerous small islands with limited land, fragile marine ecosystems and high dependence on coastal resources, improper disposal of healthcare waste can create serious risks to public health and the environment. Healthcare facilities generate infectious materials, sharps, pathological waste, pharmaceutical residues, chemical waste and other hazardous materials. The legislation and regulatory mechanisms in the Maldives therefore seek to control healthcare waste from its generation and segregation to storage, transportation, treatment and final disposal. The principal legal foundation for environmental and waste management in the Maldives is the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act of the Maldives, Law No. 4/93. The Act establishes the general responsibility of the State for protecting the environment and preventing activities that cause environmental degradation. It provides the basis for regulating pollution, waste disposal and activities that may adversely affect land, water and marine environments. Healthcare waste management falls within this wider environmental protection framework because untreated infectious and hazardous healthcare waste can contaminate soil, groundwater and coastal waters. A more specific and important legislative development is the Waste Management Act of the Maldives, Law No. 24/2019. This Act provides a comprehensive legal framework for waste management in the country. It establishes principles and responsibilities relating to the generation, segregation, collection, transportation, treatment, recycling, recovery and disposal of waste. The Act is particularly significant for healthcare waste because it recognizes the need for proper management of different waste streams and for controlling hazardous waste that can pose risks to people and the environment. Healthcare institutions are consequently required to manage the waste they generate in accordance with the applicable waste-management requirements rather than treating all waste as ordinary municipal waste. The Waste Management Act places considerable emphasis on waste minimization, segregation at source and environmentally sound treatment and disposal. These principles are especially relevant to healthcare establishments. Waste generated in hospitals and clinics should be separated according to its characteristics, such as general waste, infectious waste, sharps, pharmaceutical waste and other hazardous categories. Proper segregation reduces the quantity of waste requiring expensive hazardous-waste treatment and prevents ordinary waste from becoming contaminated. The regulatory framework is supplemented by waste-management regulations and standards issued by the relevant government authorities. The Waste Management Regulation provides operational requirements for waste handling, including collection, transportation, storage, treatment and disposal. Such regulations provide the practical mechanisms through which the broader requirements of the Waste Management Act are implemented. For healthcare facilities, these mechanisms are important because infectious and hazardous waste must be handled differently from ordinary household or commercial waste.