Hospital and Healthcare Waste Management Plan for Healthcare Units in Angola

Abstract

Studies demonstrate that the production of hospital and healthcare waste is part of human evolution and is inevitable. With economic and population growth, and due to the lack of basic sanitation, its production and consequences increase. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the current situation regarding the production and final destination of this waste and to propose a management plan to preserve the environment and public health, aiming at its generalization throughout the country. To understand the current situation, a waste characterization study was carried out at the Uíge Provincial Hospital, accounting for 628.17 kg of solid waste equivalent to urban waste and 351.8 kg of healthcare service waste in one week. During this period, 1643 patients were treated, with 1443 consultations and 1105 hospitalizations. These data allowed us to determine the waste generation index per bed at 0.89 kg/bed; 0.57 kg/patient treated and 0.68 kg/patient consultation. However, it is concluded that only a very small percentage of hospital waste has the same destination as household waste, with the majority being burned in the open air. Furthermore, based on data from the 2014 Census, it was possible to count 162 incinerators yet to be built, one per municipality, at a total cost of US$13,070,484. The costs were accounted for in US dollars due to the imbalance of the Kwanza.

This study constitutes a practical contribution to the establishment of a hospital waste management plan.