Medical Waste Management in the second largest City of Iran (Mashhad) with Three-Million Inhabitants

One of the first and important steps to improve medical waste management is awareness and monitoring of the quality and quantity of medical waste. The aim of this study was to determine the present status of waste generation and the process of waste management in hospitals. This cross sectional study was performed in ten university hospitals in Mashhad. A standard questionnaire was prepared according to the National Health instructions and completed by the project team members who were environmental health experts. The total waste which was generated in the studied hospitals was 7683 kg/day. The study showed total waste generation in selected hospitals as (61.85%) general medical waste, (34.90%) infectious waste and (3.25%) sharp waste. The average generation rate for total, general, infectious and sharp waste was (2.6, 1.5, 1.01) and (0.08) kg/bed/day, respectively. Mean scores of the different steps of waste management process with respect to National Health instructions were as follows: waste segregation (64%), waste storage (67%), waste transportation (76 %) and waste treatment 63%. There was no significant difference between the average rate of waste generation per bed in public and specialized hospitals (P=0.34). High rate of infectious waste shows the need for establishing executive rules and standards for medical waste management. Medical managers should update their knowledge and further educating their staff; implying careful and constant monitoring of waste management.