BIOMEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DELHI HOSPITALS-A CASE STUDY

Abstract

The high generation rate of medical waste in Delhi is a proof that medical waste management in Delhi is problematic.Environmental education of healthcare professionals can help in developing the right kind of attitude and behavior towards healthcare services particularly the management of the Bio Medical Waste (BMW).The objective of the study focuses on four hospitals of Delhi with different bed capacityundertaken in the Hospitals & Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment facility.The research explores the staff‘s perception towards the medical waste management. The study aims to examine the knowledge level, attitude and role of health care workers towards the medical waste management and highlights current practices and strategies for biomedical waste management in Delhi. The present study focuses on BMW management system in the hospitals with special reference to environment education.The study was conducted through field visits, questionnaire, surveys, and interviews with the hospital administration, doctors, nurses, technicians and other personnel involved in the management of generated waste.Sample of waste water from the ETP of the hospital &ETP of the Common Bio-Medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) were alsobeing taken for analysis. The resultrevealed that 58.3% respondents were aware of the legislation applicable to BMW management and had attended training program.Majority of respondents (91.6%) including doctors, paramedical, and auxiliary staff believed that the proper management of BMW was a team work and the safe management efforts by hospital would increase the financial burden, while 16.6% of them felt that it was an extra burden on their work.The study also examines whether the hospital could help in reduction of carbon foot print by improving the medical waste management in the hospitals.The study states that the health care workers have a critical role in achieving efficient medical waste management. The doctors were observed to be good in theoretical knowledge related to the BMW management in private hospitals. The need of comprehensive training programs regarding Bio-Medical waste management is highly recommended to all hospital staff.There should be a provision of organization advanced training programme to the staff at various levels time to time prevent and minimize the waste production and treat the waste by safe and environmental friendly methods.