Hospital waste generation and management practices in Owerri, Nigeria

摘要

This study is aimed to estimate the rate of waste generations and describe the waste disposal/management practices. The study surveyed the waste generation and management practice of 12 hospital and clinics selected using multistage sampling techniques from the list of hospitals in Owerri Municipal. Wastes generated were weighed and parallel to that, data on patient influx, number of beds, length of stay and waste management practices were collected through a questionnaire. The average waste generated from the survey was 49.8 kg/day and 0.58 kg/bed/day comprising 16% hazardous and 84% non-hazardous. Fifty percent of the wastes generated were disposed openly in municipal bins. Also 41.7% of sharps are disposed mixed with municipal waste and despites high awareness on hazardous nature of hospital waste, only 16.7% of waste are collected in colour coded bags with 33.3% having laid down waste management plans for waste disposal. With the per day waste generation of hospital waste exceeding the per capita per day international generation of waste, that is, 0.25 kg in a country where an average citizen live on less than a dollar per day, there is an urgent need for increasing awareness and education on hospital waste generation and its implication for disposal and management.