Asian Journal of Research in Medicine and Medical Science

Background: Hospitals are the principal source of medical waste, which is generated primarily during disease investigation, treatment, prevention, and research tasks. Improper management and disposal of hospital waste creates a potential risk to health and the environment. Despite this, there is no provision on medical waste management in Bangladesh. As a result, the purpose of this research was to learn about the waste management systems in several Dhaka hospitals.

Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among five different types of hospitals in Dhaka to find out the waste management methods of the hospital. Of these, one was a government medical college hospital, three were private hospitals and one was a private medical college hospital. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the hospitals. A checklist was used to observe the current medical waste management in all the hospitals. In addition, every hospital’s record regarding waste management was reviewed to extract information in this regard. A simple descriptive statistics was applied for data analysis.

Results: Results showed that all hospitals made arrangement of placing color-coded containers according to waste management protocol except the government medical college hospital one. In addition, this government medical college hospital did not have also a proper waste storage system. Regarding placement of container to the convenient place, all private hospitals placed different type of container on convenient place for patients and staff according to guideline. However, only two hospitals (one was a private medical college hospital and another one was a government medical college hospital) were found using the trolley with the covered container. In addition, none of the hospitals had used accidental register maintained by collectors. In contrast, health education to the handler on waste management and risk of waste were provided to all hospitals.

Conclusion: This study concludes that in order to make effective waste management program, periodical supervision by government should be undertaken through establishing strong provision in this regard.