Quantitative assessment of medical waste generation in the capital city of Bangladesh.
There is a concern that mismanagement of medical waste in developing countries may be a significant risk factor for disease transmission. Quantitative estimation of medical waste generation is needed to estimate the potential risk and as a basis for any waste management plan. Dhaka City, the capital of Bangladesh, is an example of a major city in a developing country where there has been no rigorous estimation of medical waste generation based upon a thorough scientific study. These estimates were obtained by stringent weighing of waste in a carefully chosen, representative, sample of HCEs, including non-residential diagnostic centres. This study used a statistically designed sampling of waste generation in a broad range of Health Care Establishments (HCEs) to indicate that the amount of waste produced in Dhaka can be estimated to be 37+/-5 ton per day. The proportion of this waste that would be classified as hazardous waste by World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines was found to be approximately 21%. The amount of waste, and the proportion of hazardous waste, was found to vary significantly with the size and type of HCE.
School of Science and Technology, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, UK. M.patwary@tees.ac.uk
Masum A
MA
Patwary
William Thomas
WT
O'Hare
Graham
G
Street
K
K
Maudood Elahi
Syed Shahadat
SS
Hossain
Mosharraf H
MH
Sarker
D001459:Bangladesh; D006256:Hazardous Waste / Q000145:classification; D006268:Health Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006797:Housekeeping, Hospital; D008506:Medical Waste / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D018505:Waste Management
D006256:Hazardous Waste; D008506:Medical Waste; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal