Medical laboratory waste generation rate, management practices, and associated factors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Endris, S.; Tamir, Z. T.; Sisay, A.

Background: Biomedical wastes (BMW) generated from medical laboratories are hazardous and can be deleterious to humans and the environment. Highly infectious types of biomedical wastes are commonly generated at an unacceptably high rate from health laboratories of developing countries with a poor management system like Ethiopia. This study was aimed to evaluate the generation rate of biomedical wastes, management practices, and associated factors among public healthcare medical laboratories in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Materials and methods: A Health institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 13 to September 25, 2020, in 6 hospital laboratories and 20 health center laboratories in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, and practice of biomedical waste management of the health facilities, Biomedical waste generation rate were collected using data collection tools. Data were managed using SPSS version 20 software. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, linear and logistic regression analysis were computed to identify independent predictors of the dependent variable. An Odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was used to determine the strength of association. Results: The finding revealed that the mean plus or minus SD of the daily generation rate of biomedical wastes was 4.9 plus or minus 3.13 kg/day per medical laboratory. Nineteen (74.3%) medical laboratories had a proper practice of biomedical waste management which is significantly associated with knowledge of professionals on biomedical waste management policies and guidelines, availability of separate financial sources for biomedical waste management, and training level of professionals. Conclusion: The study showed a high generation of biomedical waste from medical laboratories in public healthcare in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Near two-thirds of health facilities had a proper practice of waste segregation, collection, storage, and treatment of biomedical wastes generated from their laboratory. However, there was a poor practice of transportation and disposal. Hence, due attention and practicing as per the current national guidelines of biomedical waste management is recommended.