Investigation and Analysis of Rural Medical Waste Management

Objective: The aim is to understand the status of rural medical waste management and problems and to make recommendations. Methods: The questionnaire survey, interviews and comparative analysis are used. Results: Compared with urban medical waste management, rural medical waste management is weaker in classification, unified recycle, disposals, protect measures of related personnel, regulations and policies of awareness. Conclusion: It is recommended to improve policies and regulations of rural medical waste management, strengthen rural infrastructures and facilities, improve supervision and innovates means of supervision.

Analysis of Health Workers’ Perceptions on Medical Waste Management in Tanzanian Hospitals

This paper presents the perceptions of health workers (HWs) on medical waste management (MWM) issues in Tanzanian hospitals. The perceived total waste generation rates were lower than the actual measurements. Administrators perceived lower rates than implementers. The results indicated three categories of medical waste which are given due attention, that is, sharps waste, pathological and infectious waste. Other wastes like radioactive, chemical, pharmaceutical, pressurized containers receive very little attention. Container colour coding and labelling was negligible, while improvised containers are still in use. Medical waste is transported within hospitals manually, with little efforts on mechanized transportation. Poor waste storage was observed, while the prominent medical waste treatment technologies are medium temperature incinerators. Off-site transportation of medical waste is practiced, where the waste is finally dumped or buried. The hospitals are currently utilizing public-private partnership schemes for MWM in only one aspect of off-site transportation. Three main problems which require high attention include: Weaknesses in hospital management, poor MWM infrastructure, and lack of skills and knowledge on MWM among HWs. Knowledge and awareness among HWs on health hazards associated with poor MWM is low (with exception of cholera, HIV and typhoid). Few PPE types are supplied and used in the hospitals, leading to poor diseases prevention. There is also low knowledge among HWs on administrative issues related to MWM in Tanzanian hospitals.

A queueing-inventory model to control the congestion of patients and medical waste in the medical centers, a case study

During epidemics,controlling the patients’congestion is a way to reduce disease spreading.Raising medical demands converts hospitals into one of the sources of disease outbreaks.The long patient waiting time in queues to receive medical services leads to more casualties.The rise of patients increases their waste,which is another source of disease outbreak.In this study,a mathematical model is developed to control patients’congestion in a medical center and manage their waste,considering environmental issues.Besides a queueing system controlling the patients’congestion in the treatment center,another queue is considered for vehicles.An inventory model is employed to prevent waste accumulation.The developed model is solved and reaches an exact solution in small size,and obtains an acceptable solution in large size using the Grasshopper algorithm.A case study is considered to demonstrate the model’s applicability.Also,Sensitivity analysis and valuable managerial insights are presented.