Challenges of effective management of medical waste in low-resource settings: perception of healthcare workers in Vhembe district healthcare facilities, South Africa

Abstract

Many developing countries face various challenges in managing medical waste properly, and most of these challenges lie within the healthcare facilities. This study was conducted to investigate the challenges of effective management of medical waste in Vhembe District from the perspective of healthcare workers. The convergent parallel approach of mixed-method design was adopted. In-depth interviews were conducted with managers, infection prevention and control coordinators and environmental health practitioners of 15 public healthcare facilities in the district to gain insight into the challenges they identify in their respective healthcare facilities. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to obtain data from medical waste generators and handlers. Qualitative data were thematically analysed, and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25 was used to analyse the quantitative data. The challenges identified by healthcare workers include poor understanding of medical waste management guidelines and poor compliance; lack of regular training; poor attitudes of medical waste generators; insufficiency of waste management equipment and sub-standard central storage rooms. Most of the challenges were found to be linked to inadequate training of healthcare workers. For effective management of medical waste, efforts should be intensified towards adequate training of healthcare workers and provision of necessary equipment.

Keywords:

• healthcare workers
• healthcare facilities
• medical waste management
• low-resource settings
• public health

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank the following bodies for granting the ethical clearance and permission to conduct the study: University of Venda Research Ethics Committee (SHS/18/PH/07/0405), Limpopo Provincial Department of Health (LP_201805_011), Vhembe District Executive Manager, and the Chief Executive Officers of all the hospitals and the Managers of the clinics and community health centres where data were collected.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa (Grant number 129638) and the Research and Publication Committee of the University of Venda (Grant number SHS/18/PH/18).