4 Shocking Facts of Medical Waste Management

November 14, 2022

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You had an illness suddenly and you were rushed to the hospital. After getting treated by the doctor, you received few medicines in order to cure your illness and allowed to be discharged from the hospital that you were being treated.

4 Shocking Facts of Medical Waste Management

As per prescribed by the doctor, you are required to take certain medicines until you finish all of it such as antibiotics. However, how about the other types of medicines such as painkillers and other pills that were not finished? What did you do with the unused pills?

If you dispose all types of medical waste by just throwing it together with the rest of your garbage, then you have unconsciously doing the wrong thing. If you think that this has no effect, you will think otherwise when you know these 4 shocking facts of medical waste management.

1. Medical Equipments Clogs The Sewer

medical waste management

The sewers are one of the infrastructures that needs to be working perfectly so that all the drainage water as well as waste matter can properly flow. However, after Covid-19 has emerged since, there are many more cases of extra waste.

As reported by World Health Organization, the amount of extra waste generated by essential and non-essential personal protective equipment such as facemasks and other medical equipments has accumulated almost half of the volume of waste.

In the report, 49,000 tonnes of medical waste consists of essential personal protective equipment, while 38,000 tonnes are from the non-essential personal protective equipment. If the sewers are clogged, then it could have a negative impact on the environment.

Covid-19 has impacted the amount of medical waste globally. Coincidentally, there are more cases of heart failure after being infected with it and CPR could help to resuscitate the victim. Learn more about Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation In Malay

2. Most Healthcare Facilities Do Not Properly Medical Waste management

medical waste management

Would you believe that most healthcare facilities do not practice proper medical waste management? Its a shocking fact as it seems unlikely for a medical facility who are well versed regarding health would dispose medical waste incorrectly.

The fact remains that WHO has declared based on their data on 2019 which shows that 1 out of 3 healthcare facilities in least developed countries globally practices bad medical waste management.

3. Improper Medical Waste Management Increases Risk Of Spreading Infections

medical waste management

If a HIV patient who are also a drug addict decided to throw his syringe needle on the sand at the beach and you suddenly stepped on the needle one day, what will your reaction will be? That is a perfect example why improper medical waste management may cause harm.

Infections or transmitted disease can be easily spread over the population if these medical waste are not properly taken care of. Imagine being infected with Covid-19 just because somebody does not dispose their used facemasks properly. Surely you do not want that.

4. There Are Different Types Of Medical Waste

For netizens who are not well-versed in the medical terms, most of them will be oblivious towards the fact that there are different types of medical waste, and each of them has their own specific way to dispose it. The 4 types are explained as stated below:

 

  1. General Waste – This category covers most medical waste, mostly typical household as well as office waste
  2. Infectious Waste – This type of medical waste can cause an infection towards humans or even animals. Typically consists of infected blood, bodily fluids, or human tissue.
  3. Hazardous Waste – Be aware if you encounter this type of waste, it is quite dangerous because it is usually sharp and could inflict cuts or wounds to people, Example of this type of waste are scalpel, syringes as well as chemical waste.
  4. Radioactive Waste – Nobody wants to be exposed to radioactive waste. This type of waste could result in cancer and other deadly disease when exposed in a significant amount and usually will require immediate medical attention.

This concludes the 4 shocking facts of medical waste management. Now that you know these facts, you should start to perform a proper waste management. If you do not know how, you may contact us.

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