Title: Policies and practices of biomedical waste management in different healthcare facilities in a developing country

Authors: Yashasvi Thakur; Surjit Singh Katoch

Addresses: Center for Energy and Environment, National Institute of Technology Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, 177005, India ' Center for Energy and Environment, National Institute of Technology Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, 177005, India

Abstract: Improperly managed biomedical wastes is harmful to both, the personnel dealing with it and the environmental health. In the present study five randomly selected healthcare facilities located in Himachal Pradesh, India were studied for cradle to grave evaluation of biomedical waste. The 872 bedded state medical college and hospital located at the capital city did not appropriately separate the waste especially at the point of generation. While in the regional hospital (210 beds), the colour-coding practices for waste segregation were not observed as per extant rules and guidelines. In the government run TB sanatorium (100 beds) the staff was not very well acquainted with the special categories of waste and its treatment henceforth. In the community and primary health centre, the waste received minimum attention by the producers and its handlers as either they were not aware of the practices or they did not have the resources to manage it.

Keywords: biomedical wastes; biomedical waste management; infectious waste; healthcare waste management; treatment; disposal; segregation; colour coding; collection; ART centre.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2017.083561

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2017 Vol.19 No.1, pp.42 - 51

Received: 04 Apr 2016
Accepted: 25 Dec 2016
Published online: 10 Apr 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article