Journal of Environmental Protection

Volume 9, Issue 13 (December 2018)

ISSN Print: 2152-2197   ISSN Online: 2152-2219

Google-based Impact Factor: 1.15  Citations  h5-index & Ranking

Stakeholders’ Practices and Perspectives on Solid Medical Waste Management: A Community Based Study in Accra, Ghana

HTML  XML Download Download as PDF (Size: 467KB)  PP. 1295-1313  
DOI: 10.4236/jep.2018.913081    1,121 Downloads   2,356 Views  Citations

ABSTRACT

Solid medical waste (SMW) is hazardous and requires specific treatment prior to final disposal. Limited information addresses the management of SMW in non-traditional settings such as in households, traditional birth attendants’ (TBAs) homes and chemical seller (CS) shops. A descriptive, exploratory study was conducted to identify major disposal practices and perceived hazards associated with SMW and explore their views regarding segregation as a potential management option. Twenty-nine household members, 10 TBAs and 8 CS who volunteered to participate in the study were involved in 6 focus group discussions (FGDs). Additionally, five key informants in private sector waste management companies were interviewed. FGDs were audio recorded, transcribed and translated, manually coded into themes and sub-themes using an iterative approach, and integrated with data from the interviews. In households, medicines were discarded by dosage forms with solid forms discarded in the household bin, while syrups were mostly emptied into drains. TBAs buried material used for delivery in clients’ compounds and CS tended to burn expired medicines or discard them with general waste. Participants perceived the following as hazards associated with SMW: infection transmission, penetrative injury, poisoning and aesthetic nuisance. Despite this awareness, they reported barriers to source segregation as a potential management option. Barriers included implied consumer costs, lack of supportive logistics and operational knowledge, and possible injury. Reported methods of disposing SMW supported earlier studies and could be potentially hazardous if not addressed. Provision of storage facilities, supportive logistics and public sensitization might encourage source segregation as a potential management option for SMW in the community.

Share and Cite:

Udofia, E. , Fobil, J. and Gulis, G. (2018) Stakeholders’ Practices and Perspectives on Solid Medical Waste Management: A Community Based Study in Accra, Ghana. Journal of Environmental Protection, 9, 1295-1313. doi: 10.4236/jep.2018.913081.

Cited by

[1] A Contactless IoT-Based GPS-Tracked Waste Bin to Curb Medical Waste Infections in Ghana
Ghana Mining Journal, 2022
[2] ОБРАЩЕНИЕ С МЕДИЦИНСКИМИ ОТХОДАМИ В УСЛОВИЯХ СОВРЕМЕННОГО ЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ-ПРОБЛЕМЫ И ПУТИ РЕШЕНИЯ
Кубанский научный …, 2022
[3] Disposal habits and microbial load of solid medical waste in sub-district healthcare facilities and households in Yilo-Krobo municipality, Ghana
Plos one, 2021
[4] An assessment of house-hold solid waste management in a large Ghanaian district
2020
[5] Правовые и экономические проблемы совершенствования системы управления медицинскими отходами
2020
[6] Achieving value for money in waste management projects: determining the effectiveness of public–private partnership in Ghana
2020

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.