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Reuters

The Health Care Without Harm coalition published the report, which claimed the bank funded projects in Africa, the Americas and Asia where funds were used to buy incinerators which were more polluting that would be acceptable in countries such as the United States.

The World Bank denied the claims.

"It is incredibly ironic that the World Bank, an institution allegedly committed to environmental protection, is facilitating the spread of this dangerous technology to Third World countries," said Ann Leonard of the Washington-based Multinationals Resource Centre, which is part of the coalition.

"It is a clear case of environmental racism - incinerators and dioxin are too dangerous for us in the rich countries but are acceptable for people in the Third World," she said.

David Hanrahan, a spokesman for the bank on environmental issues, said the bank never sought to fund polluting projects - adding that the bank is formulating guidelines on medical waste management.

He noted that all incinerators produce dioxin but that incinerators are needed in many hospitals to ensure such things as infected needles do not find their way back into use.

"We make every effort to ensure that funds from our loans are used to buy environmentally acceptable products," he said adding that the bank has been in discussions with the coalition on the issue for months.