An Overview of Hospital Bio-medical Waste Management in India

Abstract

Hospitals’ commitment to patient care and community health has been cited to paradoxically defy their own objectives. On one hand, they cure patients and on the other, have emerged as a source of several diseases. Hospital waste is of special kind of waste. By the nature of its origin, hospital waste can become a health hazard and in extreme cases a source of the epidemic. In order to provide for better management of hospital waste the Bio-medical (Handling and Management) Rules, 1998 were notified under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The problem of hospital waste is more of quality as compared to quantity. It has been computed by the WHO that the average waste generated by hospitals in developed countries is in the range of 1-5 kg/bed/day, in comparison, the average for developing countries is between 1 to 2 kg/bed/day. This calls for coordination between all hospital departments that generate waste and agencies employed for the segregation, collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal of waste.