The Plight of Clinical Waste Pickers: Evidence from the Northwest Region of Cameroon

Mochungong, Peter Ikome Kuwoh

doi:10.1539/joh.q9004

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…These findings do not comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, 2016) recommendations that, appropriate PPE must be used to reduce risk or worker exposure, with the employer making readily available and at no cost to employees, appropriate specialized clothing or equipment to protect exposure to blood and other potentially infectious bacteria. Our findings confirm the report of Mochungong (2010) that the working conditions of waste pickers in Cameroon are poor. Vaccination of waste handlers against infections was low: 63% for tetanus, 51.1% for meningitis and 29.6% for hepatitis B and these vaccines were received at no cost during vaccination campaigns.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Medical waste management and disposal practices of health facilities in Kumbo East and Kumbo West health districts

Dzekashu¹,

Akoachere²,

Mbacham³

2017

Int. J. Med. Med. Sci.

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The provision of healthcare generates waste which can be detrimental to health and the environment. Management of healthcare waste is still a challenge in developing countries as practices, capacities and policies on waste disposal are grossly inadequate and require intensification. With the growing trend of biomedical services in Kumbo Cameroon, the medical waste management practices in this area was investigated to generate data that could guide policy in planning for an effective and sustainable waste management program. A qualitative cross sectional study was conducted in 30 of the 52 health facilities in study area. Participating facilities were selected by convenience sampling and personnel by random sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires, interviews and direct field observations and results analyzed using SPSS V 17.0. P-values <0.05 were considered significant. Participants aware of the existence of a national policy guide on waste management were mostly administrators (66.7%). Only 2 (6.6%) health facilities had a copy of this document. None of the participating facilities kept records of their medical waste management practices. All participants were aware of the health risk of healthcare waste. Use of PPE varied among participants and was highest among employed waste handlers (EWH) (100%) and laboratory technicians (100%) while the lowest (69%) was among pharmacy attendants. Gloves were the most commonly used PPE. Most of the EWH (55.6%) used examination gloves which was inappropriate. Not all participants segregated or disinfected waste. Waste bins were not colour-coded and all facilities had appropriate safety boxes for sharps. In 86.7% of health facilities, waste disposal was by burning in pits located within 400 m away from the facility. These pits were not protected from scavengers. Only 4 facilities had incinerators and all did not meet the required standards, as none was equipped with a scrubber. Even after segregation at the point of generation, wastes were mixed at the point of final disposal. Waste management practices in study site did not meet standard practices. There is an urgent need for proper medical waste management in Kumbo East and Kumbo West to minimise threats to human health and the environment. Regular supervision and enforcement of policy on medical waste management is paramount.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Medical waste management and disposal practices of health facilities in Kumbo East and Kumbo West health districts

Dzekashu¹,

Akoachere²,

Mbacham³

2017

Int. J. Med. Med. Sci.

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“…Social stigma may affect the mental state and emotional wellbeing of the waste pickers [3]. The risk of infection is even higher since it can arise from cuts, needle pricks and ingestion of organic waste found at landfills [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Illness, Self-Rated Health and Access to Medical Care among Waste Pickers in Landfill Sites in Johannesburg, South Africa

Made

Ntlebi

Kootbodien

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Waste pickers are exposed to various environmental health hazards, and self-rated health (SRH) could influence their medical care access. This study investigated the association between illness, clinic visits and SRH, and assessed if SRH can increase clinic visits. A cross-sectional study was conducted. SRH was defined as “very good”, “good”, “fair”, and “poor”. The illnesses were mental health, infectious, and chronic diseases. Medical care access included clinic visits in the previous 12 months. An ordinal logistic regression model was fitted to assess the association. There were 361 participants, 265 (73.41%) were males. Median age was 31 years, (interquartile range (IQR): 27–39). SRH: poor (29.89%), fair (15.92%), good (43.30%) very good (10.89%). Ever smoked (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.72; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11–2.66), mental health (AOR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.22–2.84), chronic (AOR: 2.34; 95% CI:1.47–3.68) and infectious (AOR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.77–3.63) diseases were significantly associated with increased odds of reporting poor health. Clinic visit was not associated with SRH. From 99 (31%) individuals who rated their health as poor and ill, 40% visited a clinic (p = 0.0606). Acute and chronic illnesses were associated with poor SRH but this did not increase clinic visits. Provision of mobile clinic services at the landfill sites could increase access to medical care.

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“…Health care workers (HCWs) are facing certain occupational hazards because of exposure to sharp injury (SI) and human blood and body fluids (BBFs) as a result of handling wastes. 1,2 They all are at risk of developing blood-borne infections including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses. 3 In 2000, WHO estimated that injections with contaminated syringes caused 21 million hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections (32% of all new infections), two million hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections (40% of all new infections) and 260000 HIV infections (5% of all new infections).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sharp Injury and Exposure to Blood and Body Fluids among Health Care Workers in Health Care Centers of Eastern Ethiopia

Alemayehu¹,

Worku²,

Assefa³

2016

Int J Occup Environ Med

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The Plight of Clinical Waste Pickers: Evidence from the Northwest Region of Cameroon

Cited by 14 publications

References 3 publications

Medical waste management and disposal practices of health facilities in Kumbo East and Kumbo West health districts

Medical waste management and disposal practices of health facilities in Kumbo East and Kumbo West health districts

Illness, Self-Rated Health and Access to Medical Care among Waste Pickers in Landfill Sites in Johannesburg, South Africa

Sharp Injury and Exposure to Blood and Body Fluids among Health Care Workers in Health Care Centers of Eastern Ethiopia

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