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Abstract
Hospital waste contains large quantities of hazardous materials. In Iran, as in many developing countries, not much attention has been paid to this matter. Little information is available regarding the generation and disposal of medical waste in Iran, and this fact hinders planning for a better management of the aforementioned waste. This paper describes a survey performed on the collection and disposal of waste in the university hospitals of the Fars province, which are the medical referral centres in the southern half of the country, and the results obtained are fully discussed. The lack of separation between hazardous and non- hazardous waste, an absence of necessary rules and regulations applying to the collection of waste from the hospital wards and the on-site transport to a temporary storage location, a lack of proper waste treatment, disposal of hospital waste along with municipal garbage, insufficient training of personnel, insufficient personal protective equipment and lack of knowledge regarding the proper use of such equipment, were the main findings. For a rapid improvement of existing conditions, performing extensive research for the assessment of present situation in the hospitals of this country, compilation of rules and establishment of standards along with effective training for the personnel is recommended.
Acknowledgements
The paper is the result of a research project (80-1332), approved by the Deputy for Research of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Health Services. Special thanks go to the esteemed Deputy for his financial support and for the acceptance of this project. We also wish to recognize the help and support of the managers of all university hospitals, and particularly to thank Mr H. Razmara for his invaluable collaboration and skills in performing this study. The authors also wish to thank Ms Marysia Meylan, MSPH, CIC, for her assistance in editing the English version of the manuscript.