waste management in hospital with his introduction
Answers
Answer:
Keywords: Medical Waste, Medical Waste Disposal, Infectious Waste Disposal, Pathological Waste Disposal, Waste Management,
INTRODUCTION
Hospital waste is “Any waste which is generated in the
diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings
1
or animals or in research” in a hospital . “Hospital
waste is a special type of waste produced in small
quantities carrying a high potential of infection and
2
injury” . There are serious health effects from public
health standpoint if hospital waste is not handled
properly.
Hospital waste management means “the management
of waste produced by hospitals using techniques that
will check the spread of diseases through hospital
3
waste” .
Hospital waste consists of both risk waste and non risk
waste. Generally, risk waste includes infectious waste,
pathological, pharmaceutical, sharps, chemicals,
geno-toxic and radioactive wastes. Non-risk waste
includes garbage and general day to day waste
4
produced by food stuff leftovers and their packaging .
The developed countries have properly organized
infrastructure of hospital waste disposal. A properly
trained team is responsible for handling various
operational procedures related to waste disposal like
segregation, internal transportation, and final
disposal.
In developing countries, however situation is not good.
There is lack of awareness regarding segregation,
collection, storage and transportation and disposal
5
procedures .
Medical waste management has not received much
attention in developing countries. Segregation into risk
and non risk waste is usually not performed. Workers
have little awareness of hazards associated, and
6
disposal techniques are poor . There is also lack of
7
awareness at health policy and law levels .
In case of cyto-toxic drugs, special care is needed
during disposal, as contamination of handlers is easy,
which can lead to ingestion and absorption causing
Dr. Raheelah Amin, Dr. Rubina Gul, Miss Amina Mehrab
HOSPITAL WASTE MANAGEMENT;
Practices in different hospitals of Distt. Peshawar
ORIGINAL PROF-2223
Professional Med J 2013;20(6): 988-994. www.theprofesional.com 988
Amin R, Gul R, Mehrab A. Hospital waste management; practices in different hospitals of Distt. Peshawar. Professional Med J
2013;20(6): 988-994.
Article Citation
ABSTRACT… Introduction: Hospital waste is a special type of waste which carries high potential of infection and injury. Objectives: This
study was conducted to examine Medical Waste Management Practices in different hospitals of Peshawar. Methodology: Simple
observational, cross-sectional study. was conducted with a case study approach. Aug-Sep 2011, with selection of 15 hospitals. The data
was collected through a pre-designed questionnaire with a checklist. Results: The study showed that 80% of the hospital personnel knew
hospital waste and its management. There was waste management plan present in 30% of hospitals. Although hospitals did not quantified
waste amounts but on average the amount of waste generated daily was 0.5-1 kg/bed/day. Segregation into risk and non risk waste was
done in 93.3% of hospitals. For non risk waste, disposal through Municipal Corporation was conducted in 86.67% of the hospitals, while
in 13.3%, it was burnt. For risk waste, either it was buried or burnt. Proper incineration was carried out in only 33.3% of the hospitals.
Discussion: Hospital waste generation, segregation, collection, transportation & disposal practices were not in accordance with standard
guidelines. The average waste generation in most of the hospitals was almost equivalent to other under developed countries but less than
that of developed countries. Conclusions: The hospital waste in the majority of hospitals of Peshawar was mismanaged. No proper
hospital waste management plan existed except at few hospitals.
Answer:
The issue of biomedical waste management has assumed great significance in recent times particularly in view of the rapid upsurge of HIV infection. Government of India has made proper handling and disposal of this category of waste a statutory requirement with the publication of gazette notification no 460 dated 27 July 1998. The provisions are equally applicable to our service hospitals and hence there is a need for all the service medical, dental, nursing officers, other paramedical staff and safaiwalas to be well aware of the basic principles of handling, treatment and disposal of biomedical waste. The present article deals with such basic issues as definition, categories and principles of handling and disposal of biomedical waste.
KEY WORDS: Bio-medical waste, Hospital infections, Hospital waste disposal
Introduction
The subject of biomedical waste management and handling has been assuming increasing significance for the past few years. The responsibility of medical administrators as regards proper handling and disposal of this category of waste has now become a statutory requirement with the promulgation of Government of India (Min of Environment and Forests) gazette notification no. 460 dated 27 Jul 1998 [1]. The provisions of the gazette are also applicable to Armed Forces hospitals. The present system of biomedical waste disposal system in Armed Forces is far from satisfactory [2]. It is therefore highly desirable that all service officers concerned with the administration of hospitals and other health care echelons take all steps to adhere to the laid down directives. It is equally important that all service medical, dental, nursing officers, other paramedical staff and waste handlers such as safaiwalas be well oriented to the basic requirements of handling and management of biomedical waste. It is with this objective of providing such basic information that the present article has been composed.