Healthcare waste management assessment of White Nile State hospitals

Abstract

Healthcare waste (HCW) has become one of critical concerns in the developing countries constitutes a special category of waste, potentially contain harmful materials. The inappropriate handling and disposal of HCW pose health risks such as hepatitis viruses and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to healthcare providers who may be directly exposed, people near health facilities, children and scavengers.

Waste-generation data must be used with caution because of the wide variability even within a country and the many factors that influence the rates. In middle and low income countries, HCW generation rate according to national income level is usually lower than that in high income countries. In Sudan, many health concerns are competing for limited resources, so it is not surprising that the management of HCW has received far less attention than the priority it deserves. Unfortunately, studies on the public health implications of inadequate management of HCW are very few and limited in scope. The present study aims at assessing the HCW management practices and HCW generation rate at the main hospitals in White Nile State, Sudan, which have not been studied before.

The study main results showed that HCW management practices were not applied according to the requirements of the WHO regulation. The average of domestic waste is 1.35, 1.2, and 1.03 kg/patient/day in Kosti, Rabak, and Eduiem hospital respectively, while the average of clinical waste is 0.4, 0.5, and 0.48 kg/patient in Kosti, Rabak, and Eduiem hospital respectively.