Assessing the management of healthcare waste for disease prevention and environment protection at selected hospitals in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Incineration is the most used healthcare waste (HCW) disposal method. Disease outbreaks due to Ebola virus and SARS-CoV2 require attention to HCW management to avoid pathogens spread and spillover. This study describes HCW management prior to incineration and hospital incinerators performance by analysing bottom ashes from hospitals in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. We used semi-structured interviews to capture information on pre-incineration waste management and analysed the chemical composition of 27 samples of incinerator bottom ashes using the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. Neither sorting nor waste management measures were applied at hospitals surveyed. Incinerator operators were poorly equipped and their knowledge was limited. The bottom ash concentrations of cadmium, chromium, nickel and lead ranged between 0.61–10.44, 40.15–737.01, 9.11–97.55 and 16.37–240.03 mg kg−1, respectively. Compared to Chinese incinerator performance, the concentrations of some elements were found to be lower than those from China. This discrepancy may be explained by the difference in the composition of HCW. The authors conclude that health care waste in Kinshasa hospitals is poorly managed, higher concentrations of heavy metals are found in incinerator bottom ashes and the incinerators quality is poor. They recommend the strict application of infection prevention control measures, the training of incinerator operators and the use of high-performance incinerators.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of paramedics towards health care waste in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

“…To the environment, air contamination, land contamination, water contamination, and specific infections in humans. Poorly managed waste from healthcare centers can bring about environmental nuisances such as foul odour, flies, cockroaches, rodents, and vermin (Kyomba et al,2021). Poor healthcare waste management affects environment, humans and animals, and the communities.…”

“…According to WHO, A person who experiences one needle stick injury from a needle used on an infected source patient and not properly disposed of has risks of 30%, 1.8%, and 0.3% respectively of becoming infected with HBV, HCV, and HIV (WHO, 2018). In the same vein, poorly managed waste from healthcare centers can bring about environmental nuisances such as foul odour, flies, cockroaches, rodents, and vermin (Kyomba et al, 2021).…”