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Volume 26 |
October - December 2010 |
Number 4 |
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Published by : PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL PUBLICATIONS |
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Volume 26 |
October - December 2010 |
Number 4 |
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Managing the healthcare solid waste in
selected Districts of Punjab, PakistanJunaid Habib Ullah1, Khurshed Ahmad2, M. Amanullah Khan3
ABSTRACT
Objective: Hospital and other health care facilities (HCFs) are known to generate lot of waste for which its management is a matter of considerable public health and environmental concern. The study was undertaken to describe the current practices, gaps and quantify the load of health care solid waste.
Methodology: Out of one hundred and fifty health care facilities (HCFs) in Punjab, the largest province of Pakistan, a sample of fifteen (HCFs) was taken from a few selected Districts, to include six large hospitals and nine without indoor facilities.
Results: Only 40% of studied institutions had some program to dispose-off the waste. Even these programs were deficient in many areas and could hardly be considered as scientific. One third of institutional personnel interviewed had proper awareness or existence of a training program. Only one institution had some concept of taking safety steps from infectious materials.
Conclusion: The process of solid waste collection, storing, transporting and final disposal was highly inefficient in almost all the institutions. No regulatory body or system of waste was in place in any of the hospitals. There was no allocated budget in 27% of the hospitals for covering the cost of waste disposal. An average of 0.3 kg/bed/day of solid unsafe waste demands a systematic program of its disposal, failing which serious environmental hazards would develop for within and surroundings communities.
KEY WORDS:
Hospital Waste Management, Segregation, Collection, Disposal, Risk Factors, PCBs, Dioxin, Incinerator, Hepatitis B and C, Tertiary level and Health Surveillance.Pak J Med Sci October - December 2010 Vol. 26 No. 4 795-799
How to cite this article:
HabibUllah J, Ahmad K, Khan MA. Managing the healthcare solid waste in selected Districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci 2010;26(4):795-799
1. Junaid Habib Ullah,
M. Phil (Environmental Mng.), M. Sc. (Quality Mng.),
M. Sc. (Physics), Post Graduate Dip. (Health Mng.),
Director Hospital Waste Management,
Shalamar Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
2. Prof. Dr. Khurshed Ahmad,
Prof. of Environmental Management,
Ph.D., National College of Business Administration
& Economics Gulberg Lahore, Pakistan.
3. Dr. M. Amanullah Khan,
B.Sc., MBBS, DPH, M.P.H & T.M (USA), FCPS, Ph.D. (USA),
Prof. of Community Medicine,
Fatima Memorial Hospital System, Lahore, Pakistan.
Correspondence:
Junaid Habib Ullah,
Director Hospital Waste Management,
Shalamar Hospital, Lahore – Pakistan.
E-mail: junaidhabibullah@yahoo.com
* Received for publication: April 14th, 2010
* 1st Revision Received: April 17th, 2010
* 2nd Revision Received: June 28th, 2010
* Final Revision Accepted: July 1st, 2010
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