Healthcare Waste Management; its Impact: A Case Study of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana.

Asante, Benedicta Ofosuhemaa; Yanful, Ernest K.; Yaokumah, Benjamin Edem

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2410909

Cited by 36 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Most health facilities in Ghana do not sort their waste. In the capital region of Ghana for instance, 83% of health facilities do not sort their waste [19]. Where they do, the infectious fraction sorted will still end up at the landfill sites, mixed with the general municipal waste if the health facility has no incinerator [19] or open-fire pit.…”

Section: Research Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the capital region of Ghana for instance, 83% of health facilities do not sort their waste [19]. Where they do, the infectious fraction sorted will still end up at the landfill sites, mixed with the general municipal waste if the health facility has no incinerator [19] or open-fire pit. Considering the fact that when infectious waste is mixed with general waste, it must all be considered infectious [4,15,20,21], enormous volumes of solid waste will have to be specially treated as hazardous in Ghana and that will be hugely expensive.…”

Section: Research Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Medical Waste-Sorting and Management Practices in Five Hospitals in Ghana

Adu

Gyasi

Essumang

et al. 2020

Journal of Environmental and Public Health

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Hospital waste management in Ghana faces the risk of cross-contamination from the lack of thorough sorting of the waste at the points of generation, codisposal of hazardous and nonhazardous waste types, and use of open-fire pits and substandard incinerators for burning infectious waste. This has increased the potential for the spread of infections and chemical pollutants. A cross-sectional study was conducted in five hospitals in Ghana to assess behavioral patterns on waste sorting and the effectiveness of hospital waste management in Ghana. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed purposively to some staff of the five hospitals to assess workers’ perceptions on medical waste sorting and handling. Additionally, focused group discussions and transect walks were adopted to examine the current collection, storage, treatment, and disposal methods used in the health facilities. Chi-square analyses showed significant differences in waste-sorting behavior based only on occupation (p<0.0001, n=180) and not on gender, education, or experience in the health sector. Even though contaminated sharps were separated into brown safety boxes, color coding for other infectious waste containers was inconsistent across the health facilities. The study revealed that incineration is still the modal method of treatment in Ghanaian hospitals and therefore new approaches such as an engineering approach were required to minimize its environmental effects. It is recommended that periodic in-service training workshops be held for healthcare staff on the right source-segregation of medical waste, in order to facilitate the effective and safe handling, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste from health facilities.

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Section: Research Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical Waste-Sorting and Management Practices in Five Hospitals in Ghana

Adu

Gyasi

Essumang

et al. 2020

Journal of Environmental and Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some medical waste is still dumped at open dumping sites in Lybia and Ghana. The absence of guidelines related to the appropriate management and practices of medical wastes was the main problem in both countries [2,9]. WHO estimated that injections with contaminated syringes caused 21 million hepatitis B, 2 million hepatitis C and 260,000 HIV infection [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current treatment and disposal practices for medical wastes in Bujumbura, Burundi

Niyongabo

Jang

Kang

et al. 2018

Environmental Engineering Research

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Since improper management practices of solid medical waste (SMW) could potentially result in serious health risks and environmental problems, it is very important to properly treat and dispose of the medical wastes. In this study, current practices of SMW management from storage to final disposal stage in 12 health care facilities (HCFs) of Burundi were investigated using the official government reports. The results showed that 75% and 92% of HCFs used uncovered wheelbarrows and trucks for on-site or off-site SMW transportation, respectively, indicating that most transportation equipment and waste workers are not safely protected. The results also showed that 92.8% of SMW (15,736.4 ton) from all 12 HCFs were inappropriately disposed of through uncontrolled land disposal and incineration. If pharmaceutical wastes and discarded medical plastics (29.5% of SMW) can be separated and treated properly, the treatment costs can be reduced and resource savings can be achieved. Raising awareness of healthcare workers and general public about potential health effects arising from improper SMW management, sufficient financial and human resources for the treatment facilities (especially incinerators), and effective regulations and guidelines for transportation and treatment of SWM are some of the major tasks for safe and sustainable medical waste management in Burundi.

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“…Only 240682 kg of that waste is treated while the rest half of the waste remains untreated. Asante et al (2014) also reported that, in Ghana, 6851 beds are available for patients and each bed is generating 1.2 kg of medical waste per day. Moreover, around 83% of the selected health care facilities in Ghana did not segregate their medical waste.…”

Section: Hospital Waste Management Systems In Different Developing Comentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining the Hazardous Medical Waste Generation Rates of Private Health Care Facilities-Case Study from Dhaka City of Bangladesh

Rumi¹,

Karim²

2018

American Journal of Environmental Sciences

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Many developing countries are lagging behind the developed countries to properly manage their hazardous healthcare waste. These waste pose a significant epidemiological risks to the general people. To estimate the epidemiological risks and to establish parameters of any waste management plan, quantitative estimation of healthcare waste generation is essential. Most researches on quantitative estimation of healthcare wastes to date, have not addressed the differences in waste generation trends between the government and private healthcare sectors. This study was carried out to estimate the hazardous healthcare waste generation from private healthcare sector of Bangladesh; with a future aim do the same for government healthcare sector. A total of 50 privates healthcare facilities of different categories from Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) were selected for this study following a random sampling technique. Secondary data was obtained from PRISM Bangladesh (PRISM Bangladesh Foundation is a non-profit voluntary development organization established in 1989. In the context of environmental management, PRISM Bangladesh operates in different areas of Bangladesh with the assistance and support of UN organizations such as UNDP, UNICEF, UNDRO and UNCDF.) for these 50 healthcare facilities and personal visits to waste treatment sites were made. The estimated the hazardous healthcare waste generation rate for the private healthcare sector was found to be 0.17 kg bed −1 day −1 on per patient per day basis and an overall of 6796 kg daily. The estimated waste quantity and the proportion of hazardous healthcare waste to total healthcare waste was found to vary significantly due to different parameters related to the type and size of healthcare facility, seasonal variation etc. Based on the findings of this research, more accurate strategic planning of waste management systems for developing countries can be established by governments and municipal authorities to reduce the epidemiological risks.

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Healthcare Waste Management; its Impact: A Case Study of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana.

Cited by 36 publications

References 9 publications

Medical Waste-Sorting and Management Practices in Five Hospitals in Ghana

Medical Waste-Sorting and Management Practices in Five Hospitals in Ghana

Current treatment and disposal practices for medical wastes in Bujumbura, Burundi

Determining the Hazardous Medical Waste Generation Rates of Private Health Care Facilities-Case Study from Dhaka City of Bangladesh

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