Exploring biomedical waste management and disposal practices among hospitals in Port Harcourt, Rivers State br

Background: Globally, disposal of biomedical waste is an environmental concem, as most medical wastes are infectious and could potentially lead to the spread of infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the biomedical waste management and disposal practices among hospitals in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.<br />Method: A hospital based cross sectional design was adopted for this study on the biomedical waste management and disposal practices among hospitals in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 was used for the analysis of the study and chi square to determine association between variables (P-0.05). A structured questionnaire was used for data collection and a stratified and simple random sampling technique was used to draw out a total of 202 respondents who participated for the study.<br />Results: The study revealed that 35% (70) of the respondents were between 35-44 years of age. Overall knowledge of biomedical waste management among the health workers was 80.2%. From the study. Age (p=0.00923), Level of Education (p=0.0025) and Length of experience (p=0.0457) were all associated with the level of knowledge of biomedical waste management.<br />Conclusion: A significant number of hospital workers are aware of biomedical waste generation, management and disposal practices. Although, attitude to biomedical waste management and disposal practices among health workers is average therefore a challenge. Sensitization of hospital staff by the public health personnel to improve biological waste disposal among the inexperienced is recommended. Also the government and policy makers should design laws that would facilitate the reduction and susceptibility of improper hospital waste disposal.