AWARENESS AND PRACTICES ON HOSPITAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN POLYCLINIC HOSPITAL, ISLAMABAD

Abstract

The study consists of hospital waste management processes of Polyclinic Hospital. The hospital is situated in sector G6/2 of Islamabad. It is government owned teaching hospital. Proper management of healthcare waste is a critical concern in many resource constrained countries of the world. Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world with one of the highest urbanization and population growth rates in South Asia. This study was meant to determine waste management practices in capital city of Pakistan. The hospital was thoroughly analyzed for a week to quantify its wastes by category using a digital balance. This is a crosssectional descriptive study, aimed to analyze HWM practices of Polyclinic Hospital, Islamabad to describe the qualitative and quantitative results of analysis, observations, interviews, and data collected from different groups of hospital staff by questionnaire. Research was conducted from 1st, Feb to 25th March 2021. Objective of study was to evaluate the current risk waste management practices and compliance level with hospital waste management rules-2005 and to determine the characteristics of hospital wastewater in these hospitals. The HWM practices in hospital were systematic but the hospital staff handling the waste was not fully aware of accurate segregation of the hospital wastes. Our findings reveal a major policy implementation gap among the government andthe hospitals. Wastewater parameters of hospital revealed that wastewater was contaminating the water resources. Effective implementation of waste management strategies, Monitoring. Motivation, Communication, and awareness at all levels is the key to success. Hospital wastewater treatment is not a priority in hospital. It is need of the day that all heath care facilities must follow the national guidelines on HWM and there should be a documented andapproved waste management protocol which should be strictly implemented.