Biomedical Waste Management

摘要

Health care activities are targeted to save lives; at thesame time, itgeneratespotentially infectious orbiohazardous waste. Biomedical waste (BMW) is aspecial type of waste generated during any medicalprocedures, may be directly from patient care orbiomedical laboratory works. Of the total amount ofwaste generated by health-care activities, about15-20%is considered hazardous material that may beinfectious, toxic or radioactive.1But this small amountof hazardous waste may complicate the whole scenarioif not segregated at source. In middle and low-incomecountries, healthcare waste generation is usually lowerthan that of high-income countries.2 When segregatedand properly managed, medical waste streams areusually very small in quantity.3 Improper disposal ofmedical waste may include damage to humans bysharp instruments, diseases transmitted to humans byinfectious agents, and contamination of theenvironment by toxic and hazardous chemicals. Themanagement of health-care waste requires increasedattention and diligence to avoid adverse healthoutcomes associated with poor practice, includingexposure to infectious agents and toxic substances.