Keywords:
Biomedical waste; waste segregation; waste minimization; innovation

ABSTRACT

Background :
Healthcare waste is a source for generation of hazardous biomedical waste. According to WHO Fact sheet(1), of the total waste generated by health-care activities, about 80% is general waste. The remaining 20% is considered hazardous that may be infectious, toxic or radioactive. The concept of the study was to minimize generation of the waste through understanding waste segregation, and methods to handle.

Aim & Objective :
This study was undertaken with the objective of identifying and promoting methods in minimizing healthcare waste

Material & Methods :
A Retrospective study was undertaken at the Hemodialysis Unit of a Tertiary Care Hospital, with review of records, interaction with the staff and physical observations. Data collected for a 10 month period (Dec 2011- Sept 2012).

Results & Discussion :
The hemodialysis unit of the hospital has 17units functioning in the hospital. The hospital previously had adopted a policy of issuing new dialyzer with tubing’s for patients undergoing dialysis each time. This led to an increase in waste generation as patients on dialysis had to visit the facility frequently (many of them even 2-3 times in a week). On an average the dialysis unit provides 60 dialysis in a day. With the policy of re-use of tubing’s for the same patient being adopted there was a reduction in waste generation of nearly .004 kg per dialysis procedure.

Conclusion :
Keeping in sight the guidelines for waste management,a step further would be to minimize the healthcare waste by adopting innovative methods.