Abstract
Despite the public health and environmental consequences associated with medical waste, much attention has not been given to its management in health care centres in developing countries. This study assessed medical waste generation and management practices in the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital in Ghana. The study employed mixed methods. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from seventy four (74) hospital employees using structured questionnaire, interview and observation. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and t-test statistics at p<0.05. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic content analysis procedure. The study found that the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital generates an average daily medical waste of 35.12 kg (mean = 278.71, SD = 20.263; t = 36.39, p<0.05 and medical waste per patient per day was 0.1291 kg. Waste segregation was practiced using coloured bags (20.3%), metal dust bins (36.5%) and boxes (43.2%). The hospital has no written policy guidelines for handling medical waste. The poor management practices of medical waste generated in the Teaching Hospital is a situation-driven as it was not clearly backed by any well-designed policy framework. This raises many questions about the human health and environmental implications and level of attention the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and Ministry of Health (MOH) give to medical waste management practices in the Hospital. There is the need for a sustainable medical waste management system at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital to avoid its negative impact on human health and the environment. Keywords: Medical Waste, Medical Waste Management, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Central Region, Ghana. DOI: 10.7176/JEES/11-10-02 Publication date: October 31 st 2021
Highlights
Hospital waste is any waste which is generated in the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or in research in a hospital
More waste is generated depending on patients visiting the hospital; and usually high numbers are associated with public hospitals, the type of healthcare facility and the service being provided at the facility; others are the number of beds, the current economic, social and cultural status of the patients as well as the general condition of the area where the hospital is located (Nemathaga et al, 2008)
Results from this study revealed that the estimated medical waste per patient per day was 0.1291 kg/patient/day which were lower than the standard of medical waste generation of 0.20 kg/patient/day for developing countries (WHO, 2015)
Summary
Hospital waste is any waste which is generated in the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or in research in a hospital. At the conference it was recognized that, uncovered medical waste is one of the greatest threat to the world today in their fight against environmental degradation. Based on this Cheng et al (2009) identified that even though medical waste constituted a small fraction of total waste in a community, its management is seen as a very important issue worldwide. Ramokate (2007) reported that in under developed countries, where there is the high rate of HIV/AIDS cases, this leads to high hospital admissions an increase in the amount of waste generated by these facilities. Poor and improper disposal techniques employed during the management of medical waste has compounded this problem
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