Medical waste management practices in a Southern African hospital.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this paper is to examine the medical waste management practices of a hospital in Southern Africa.


METHODS
A case study methodology was utilised.


RESULTS
The results revealed that the hospital does not quantify medical waste. Segregation of medical waste into infectious waste and non-infectious waste is not conducted according to definite rules and standards. Separation of medical waste and municipal waste is however practiced to a satisfactory extent. Wheeled trolleys are used for on-site transportation of waste. Off-site transportation of waste is outsourced to a private firm. Incineration is used in the final disposal of infectious waste. Non-infectious waste is disposed using land disposal method. There is no policy and plan in place for managing medical waste. A number of problems were identified with respect to medical waste management.


CONCLUSIONS
The paper gives recommendations with the aim of improving medical waste management in hospitals.
Abor
Patience Aseweh
PA
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa. patienceaseweh@yahoo.com
Bouwer
Anton
A
D000353:Africa, Southern; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal / Q000379:methods*
D017744:Medical Waste Disposal