DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED SOLID HOSPITAL WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN A NIGERIAN TERTIARY HOSPITAL

A pre-intervention situation analysis was conducted to assess Hospital Waste Management (HWM) practices, solutions were proffered for the observed inadequacies and advocacy was made to Hospital administration for which a number of interventional measures were instituted. A post interventional survey was conducted to identify the improvements in HWM and identify areas needing further attention using a structured questionnaire to collect 300 viable samples. Overall outcome includes introduction of HWM plan, establishment of Environmental unit, procurement of waste segregation practices, double chambered incinerator while evaluation of medical and health workers’ knowledge and practices showed that 144(48%) express satisfaction with HWM.  The profession of respondents has significant effect on the knowledge about HWM while the educational qualification was not independently associated with level of satisfaction and use of personal protective equipments while handling medical waste at p=0.05. It was therefore concluded that continuous training/ capacity development and provision of waste management materials remain essential for consolidating the gains made on HWM. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v35i3.2