Effective Management of Hospital and Medical Waste in Rural Areas of Pakistan: A Case Study

Abstract

The proper management and safe disposal of increasing amount of solid wastes has been recognized as a global problem of the recent age. Toxic and hazardous constituents present in the solid wastes, make this problem even more critical and challenging. Exposure of such solid waste, when not managed properly significantly effects the local environment and public health. For example, bio-hazardous wastes generated from hospital and other clinical settings possess heterogeneous constituents with potentially infectious properties imposing a significant threat to the public health as well as the natural environment. This becomes more curious in case of epidemic diseases treatment and cure procedures. There are several techniques used to treat the infectious wastes, however, adoption of either technique depends upon the type of material and available resources. Thermal treatment or incineration has been found as one of the common and efficient methods for toxic waste management in which waste materials are ignited and burnt under controlled conditions destroying the toxic constitutes of the hazardous materials. The present study has been taken up in order to study the toxic waste management with emphasis on hospital waste. The case of basic health unit has been taken in order to assess and quantify toxic waste potential and its management. The study has also come up with a proposed design of small-scale fixed bed incinerator for hospital waste.