A Perspective of Biomedical Waste Management and its Correlates in District Bandipora of Kashmir Division.

Abstract

Background: Health care services produce biomedical waste (BMW) which is defined as “The waste generated during diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or in research activities pertaining thereto or in production or testing biological”. Majority of waste (75-90%) produced by the healthcare providers is non-risk or general and it is estimated that the remaining (10-25%) of healthcare waste is regarded as hazardous and has the potential for creating a variety of health problems.

Objectives: To assess Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of health care personnel at different levels of healthcare regarding different aspects of Biomedical waste management.

Study Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional study.

Participants: Health-care workers.

Materials and Methods: This study was undertaken in District Bandipora, this includes the field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine SKIMS, Soura. The survey unit for the assessment was the health facility. Both primary and secondary level facilities were included. Among primary level facilities, 40% of PHCs/NTPHCs and 20% of sub-centres were included in the sampling unit

Results: A total of 222 health workers were assessed from 30 facilities. 69.7% of the participants didn’t have the knowledge about the legislations related to biomedical waste. 67.1% of the HCWs had correct knowledge about colour coding segregation of biomedical waste. The majority (95.5%) were aware of the risks and hazards associated with hospital waste handling. Comparing the usage of all 4 colour-coded bins with respect to health facility it was seen 90% of health facilities were following wrong practice and only 10% were showing the good practice of using all 4 colour coded bins.

Conclusion: There was a disparity between knowledge and practices on various aspects of BMW management among all Health Care Workers (HCWs). Waste handlers were not using protective gear; their knowledge about waste handling was poor and was not following BMW rules for waste management, therefore proper training should be imparted to these workers.