Unpacking healthcare waste management at rural village health clinics in the Ntcheu District (Malawi)

Management of healthcare waste in low- and middle-income countries lacks a straightforward solution, especially where rural health services are provided. The purpose of our case study was to explore the knowledge and practices of health surveillance assistants operating at rural village health clini...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 2019-03, Vol.191 (3), p.175-10, Article 175
Main Authors: Mmanga, Madalitso, Singini, Wales, Di Bella, Veronica, Flaherty, Mary Grace, Holm, Rochelle H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Case studies
Construction costs
Design modifications
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental monitoring
Environmental science
Garbage collection
Health care
Health services
Health surveillance
Hypodermic needles
Incineration
Incinerators
Innovation
Innovations
Local materials
Low cost
Medical innovations
Medical wastes
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Needles
Segregation
Training
Waste disposal
Waste management
Waste management industry
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Summary:Management of healthcare waste in low- and middle-income countries lacks a straightforward solution, especially where rural health services are provided. The purpose of our case study was to explore the knowledge and practices of health surveillance assistants operating at rural village health clinics in Ntcheu District, Malawi, with regard to the collection, segregation, transportion, treatment, and disposal of healthcare waste. Data were collected from 81 clinics. The results indicated that while general gaps in both knowledge and practice were observed, sharps (e.g., needles) management was generally being done well. An opportunity for scale-up was found in one clinic, in which local materials had been used to construct a low-cost innovative sharps disposal receptacle that had been modified from a pit latrine design. This study recommends waste management training suitable for rural settings, the promotion of low-cost sharps disposal receptacles using local materials, further opportunities for low-cost incinerators, central waste collection, and encouraging grassroots innovation in healthcare waste management.
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1007/s10661-019-7306-6