Medical Waste Management Practices in a Southern African Hospital

Abstract

This study examined the medical waste management practices of a hospital in Southern Africa. The results revealed that the hospital does not quantify medical waste. Segregation of medical wastes into infectious medical waste and non-infectious medical waste is not conducted according to definite rules and standards. Separation of medical waste and municipal waste is however practiced to a satisfactory extent. Wheeled trolleys are used for on-site transportation of waste from the points of production to the temporary storage area. Staff responsible for collecting medical waste use almost completes personal protective equipment. Offsite transportation of the hospital waste is undertaken by a private waste management company. Small pickups are mainly used to transport waste daily to an off-site area for treatment and disposal. The main treatment method used in the final disposal of infectious waste is incineration. Noninfectious waste is disposed off using land disposal method. The study showed that the hospital does not have a policy and plan in place for managing medical waste. There are a number of problems the hospital faces in terms of medical waste management, including; lack of necessary rules, regulations and instructions on the different aspects of collections and disposal of waste, failure to quantify the waste generated in reliable records, lack of use of coloured bags by limiting the bags to only one colour for all waste, the absence of a dedicated waste manager, and no committee responsible for monitoring the management of medical waste. Recommendations are given with the aim of improving medical waste management in hospitals. @JASEM

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Critical Success Factors of Medical Waste Management Implementation in Healthcare Facilities in Nigeria: A Case Study

“…Coker et al (2009) categorized healthcare facilities into four groups based on size and function: primary, secondary, tertiary, and diagnostic healthcare facilities. The nature, type, size, etc., are significant determinants of the amount of waste they could generate (Cheng et al, 2009;Abor & Bouwer, 2008). …”

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“…Issues such as lack or poorly formulated medical waste managementspecific regulations and policies; poor risk awareness and training; inadequate financing; cultural norms and social status; nature, size, and type of healthcare facilities; improper implementation of policies and best practices; inadequate infrastructure and slow technological advancement (Abah & Ohimain, 2011;Abor & Bouwer, 2008;Chartier et al, 2014;Coker et al, 2009) have been identified as being responsible for failed medical waste management programs. Among many developing nations, medical waste management is still only toward achieving safe management objectives, and existing research in developing nations" context has focused mostly on management practices (Abah & Ohimain, 2011;Abor & Bouwer, 2008;Akter & Tankler, 2003;Coker et al, 2009;Mbongwe, Mmereki, & Magashula, 2008), and waste generation and characterization (Askarian, Vakili, & Kabir, 2004;Cheng, Sung, Yang, Lo, Chung & Li, 2009;Mohee, 2005). To succeed with any program at all, certain critical factors have to be considered and implemented.…”

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