Biomedical waste disposal systems of health facilities in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Biomedical waste generated from health and health-related activities can be grouped as general waste and hazardous waste. This remains true if and only if there is proper on-site handling, such as the segregation and separation of waste based on the type and nature of the source. Methods: A stratified random sampling design was used to provide representative results for Ethiopia, for various types of facility and management authorities, and for each of the 11 regions. Totally, 1327 health facilities were assessed using the World Health Organization (WHO) inventory tools. Results: Nationally, medical waste in 32.6% of the studied health facilities was stored in covered containers, and in about 27% of them it was stored in another protected environment. About 40% of health facilities stored their medical waste in unprotected areas. Twenty-eight (2.6%) and 420 (39.3%) health facilities used 2-chamber industrial incinerators and 1-chamber drum incinerators, respectively. About 58% of health facilities used unsafe waste treatment methods. The proportion of using safe medical waste disposal method was high in referral hospitals (87.9%). This shows the utilization of safe medical waste disposal methods is in decreasing order from higher to lower levels of organization in health facilities. Conclusion: The present study showed a preliminary finding on the waste disposal systems of health facilities at the national level. Dumping biomedical waste outside the health facility is common, and access to common waste facilities is limited. Therefore, a holistic approach to safe medical waste management practices, including the collection process (handling, sorting, and segregation), storage, treatment and final disposal is crucial in all types of health facilities, regardless of the level of organization, ownership, or geographic distribution.

Self-reported healthcare waste segregation practice and its correlate among healthcare workers in hospitals of Southeast Ethiopia

“…are the major risks and hazards of poorly managed HCW [2, 3]. Hence, management of healthcare wastes requires special attention and needs to be assigned high priority [4–6].…”

“…In Ethiopia, as in many developing countries, compliance with the recommended HCW segregation practice still not jumped from paper [4, 6, 16]. Moreover, safe HCWM has been given very little attention and many facilities do not meet the minimum standards required for proper handling of HCWs [7, 16].…”

Comparing and Prioritizing Different Methods of Collection and Decontamination of Waste in Decentralized Healthcare Centers

“…ealthcare waste is the total waste stream that, regardless of its volume, characteristics, and composition, is produced from health centers, health research centers, and laboratories, hospitals, clinics, medical research centers, drug factories, pharmacies, etc. [1]. These wastes account for around 1%-2% of urban wastes.…”

“…Although 75% to 90% of the healthcare waste generated is non-toxic, the remaining 10%-25% is considered "hazardous" [6,7]. The results of a cross-sectional study in selected Addis Ababa hospitals showed that the average waste production rate varies between 0.361 and 0.669 kg/patient/d and consists of 58.69% and 41.31% of non-hazardous and hazardous waste, respectively [1].…”

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

“…Healthcare waste (HCW) can be defined as the total waste that is generated from healthcare establishments, health-related research facilities, and laboratories. Hospitals, clinics, laboratories, medical research centers, pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, pharmacies, blood banks, veterinary health care centers, and home healthcare activities are some of the generators of healthcare waste irrespective of volumes, characteristics, and composition (Derso et al, 2018). HCW mismanagement may expose people inside the healthcare facilities (e.g.…”