Awareness of Biomedical Waste Management in Dental Students in Different Dental Colleges in Nepal

Abstract

Aim The aim of this study is to assess the awareness of biomedical waste management in dental students of various dental colleges of Nepal. Methodology A structured pretested questionnaire was used among 434 (323 males and 111 females) undergraduate dental students of five different dental colleges of Nepal. First part of the questionnaire was used to describe demographic profile of the participants. Second part of the questionnaire assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding biomedical waste management. Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between different responses obtained from different colleges. Result Majority (91.82%) of participants had a positive attitude towards safe management of biomedical waste. Regarding the knowledge of BMW management policies, majority of the students (83.1% to 98.9%) had positive attitude towards the safe management of biomedical waste, whereas more than 50% of the students were unaware of the guidelines laid down by Government of Nepal. Regarding biomedical waste disposal technique in the hospital, only 29.9% to 79.8% are aware; this shows that there is lack of strict protocol in the BMW management. Association between different responses and colleges for “improper waste management causes various health hazards” ranged from 93.3% to 98.9%. Conclusion There exists a lacuna in the knowledge and practice of biomedical waste management among the undergraduate dental students in Nepal. Since the students had positive attitude towards addressing this concern, workshops and trainings related to proper biomedical waste management would be a step forward towards attaining a healthy environment for the future.

Effect of an Educational Program for Healthcare Providers Regarding Healthcare Waste Management at Maternal and Child Health Centers

“…As regard total attitude score levels pre and post program implementation for health care provider regarding healthcare waste management Figure 4, the present study finding showed that, pre program implementation; more than two thirds of studied subjects had negative total attitude score level.While, after program implementation the majority of them had positive total attitude score levels. This finding was in accordance with Singh et al,(2018) and found that the majority (91.82%) of participants had a positive attitude towards safe management of biomedical waste whereas less than 50% of students are aware of the guidelines laid down by Government of Nepal.…”

An Analysis of Solid Waste Management Practices in Lamjung District Community Hospital, Nepal

“…The composition of wastes included syringes, anatomical waste, cultures, medicines, chemical wastes, rubber, gloves, tubing, swabs, gauze, pads, glasses, surgical instruments, bandage, drop-bags, cardboard, paper, wood and plastics etc. [7,8]. The biomedical wastes can potentially transmit diseases and pose an additional risk to the staff of the healthcare facilities, patients and the community as a whole, when the wastes are not managed properly using scientific and discriminate methods [8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…The developed countries have managed proper and sufficient infrastructure for health-care waste disposal [15,18]. A well-trained team is responsible for handling various operational procedures related to waste disposal like segregation, internal transportation and final disposal [3,8,15,18,19]. In low-income and middle countries, health-care waste generation is usually lower than in high-income countries, and there is lack of public awareness followed by improper health policy and law, and thus hospital waste is generally mixed with municipal waste [5,8].…”

“…Improper health-care waste management is alarming in Nepal and it poses a serious threat to public health [8]. There is lack of awareness regarding segregation, collection, storage, transportation and disposal methods [19].…”

“…There is lack of awareness regarding segregation, collection, storage, transportation and disposal methods [19]. Most hazardous and toxic health care wastes are mixed with municipal wastes and placed on land sites with few safeguards to protect those living nearby and water sources from contamination [14,3,8]. Medical waste must be collected and treated separately from municipal waste, but in many parts of Nepal, it tends to be collected along with the rest of the waste stream [8,19].…”