COVID 19 Pandemic and biomedical waste management practices in healthcare system

Abstract

The whole world was shaken with the pandemic of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in end of the year 2019. Due to its novel origin, it was required to follow all precautions possible. Dealing with the massive amount of infectious healthcare waste became an enormous challenge. This review identifies the impacts of the pandemic on biomedical waste management. This systematic review was made by using keywords “biomedical waste” and “COVID 19” in open access databases like PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholers etc. 2124 articles downloaded and 765 found duplicate and 634 not related to the topic. after scrutiny with inclusion criteria 102 articles were considered to analyze the practices related to biomedical waste management during pandemic using PRISMA guideline.. The COVID-19 waste segregation, collection, storage, transportation, and disposal are a big challenge with all stakeholders. In order to control the virus spread, strict monitoring of the complete waste management cycle is required. Adoption of appropriate guidelines is paramount to worker safety and containment of infection. Sustainable recycling methods are needed to deal with the ever-increasing plastic waste resulting from mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE) usage. The situation also demands a rethinking of the healthcare system. Overall, there was an increase in BMW generation, and municipal waste had increased globally. Pandemic preparedness requires a global public health strategy and long-term investments. This will be vital for making a robust community capable enough to fight against any public health pressures in the future, as well as the pandemic tremors. Systematized efforts from all stakeholders, at all levels, not only refines epidemic preparation but also helps to attain a sustainable development of health for a healthier future.

Impact of monitoring and training on biomedical waste segregation practice in hospitals

“…Monthly data for monitoring segregation at the point of generation that was, at all the 115 bins of different areas were collected. The average daily BMW segregation deficiency (BMWSD) index was calculated and all areas were arranged in descending order for the month zero (0), three (3) and six (6) for top deficiency areas (Table 1). 1,2 Based on number of areas, it was found that on zeroth month there were 16 areas where some deficiency was detected during daily round.…”

“…2 As hospitals were mostly service oriented industry and attrition rate was quite high comparing to other industry specially for nursing, housekeeping and doctor, the main pillars of the hospital. [5][6][7] Continuous monitoring and training will be the main focus for any hospital for providing better and better patient care even in some difficult times also. 8,9 The limitation of this study were not all the patient care areas were included and only working days data could be captured due to lack of manpower.…”

Current clinical status of new COVID-19 vaccines and immunotherapy

“…It was reported that before the pandemic hit, the average quantity of biomedical waste produced was 0.5 kg/bed/day, which increased to 3.4 kg/bed/day during the pandemic (Mondal et al 2022 ). Improper handling and disposal of contaminated waste could cause the unintentional spread of the infectious virus.…”

Biomedical Waste Management and Its Importance: A Systematic Review

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has now transformed healthy societies worldwide into diseased ones, resulting in a very high number of 1 2 deaths. It also created one significant problem: improper handling of the medical waste produced in the testing and treatment of the disease [6]. In India, BMW generated due to COVID-19 contributed to about 126 tonnes per day out of the 710 tonnes of waste produced daily [7].…”