Waste disposal and infection transmission in health care institutions

In the present study waste disposal patterns of 10 purposelyselected health care institutions from two states of India havebeen examined. Data were collected by pre-structured interviewsof hospital administrators and on-the-spot observations, andwere evaluated with reference to the possibility of transmissionof various diseases, including HIV infection. It was observedthat none of these institutions had a documented waste managementand disposal policy. All categories of waste were disposed bybeing thrown on the open ground or in open municipal cans withoutany pre-treatment, rendering them accessible to rag-pickers.Both the internal and external transportation of hospital wasteswere faulty and hazardous. A physical examination of 40 rag-pickersand 70 hospital workers who were directly involved in the disposalof hospital wastes, revealed that almost 40% (n= 47) of themsuffered from skin infections and/or had cuts or abrasions ontheir palms, hands, or feet. None of them ever ued hand gloveswhile working and only a limited few (n = 23) were found tobe wearing shoes while coming in contact with hospital wastes.This study stresses the importance of periodic in-service orientationprogrammes for all categories of health care personnel and suggestssome acceptable and affordable alternative measures for disposalof hospital wastes.