Procedural Bio-Medical Waste Management - A Comparison with International Standards

Though India has the state of art medical facilities on par with global standards for a comparatively cheaper cost with best knowledge, the bio-waste management protocols of many hospitals are far below the international standards. An effort was made to understand the bio-waste management procedures of big hospitals by making a critical analysis of bio waste generated. Biomedical waste includes syringes, live vaccines, laboratory samples, body parts, bodily fluids and waste, sharp needles, cultures and lancets. Based on the parameters of number of beds occupied and number of operations performed on any single day of the observation period of 30 days and comparing with the International Standards mentioned by World Health Organization, an analysis was made to understand whether the hospitals are following the quality parameters implemented by them. After 30 days of evaluation of biomedical waste management protocol at B.L Kapur hospital, New Delhi, it is found that the amount of hazardous bio-medical waste generated/bed/day exceeds the limit as per the international standards. For this study, the labeling component of the protocol for waste management for various departments was documented, to understand the protocol adopted. Through analysis it is concluded that to avoid hazardous effects, all major hospitals should seriously train their staff about the perilous effects of bio-waste and segregating and labeling them properly for disposal by launching a waste management protocol. It is also suggested that by recording the amount of general waste as well as bio-waste generated and conducting periodical surveillance of health care waste management practices, the hospitals can help the hospitals in protecting the environment. As it is an area of much concern, further studies can also be made to understand the impact of such negligible way of handling bio-medical wastes and the impact of such acts on the community.