Medical waste is created during a clinical diagnostic process, treatment of a disease. Medical waste may pose a threat of infection and the risk of various health issues if not properly disposed of by healthcare officials. These wastes can be anything from swabs, syringes, gloves, sharps to pathological waste, chemical waste, etc.
Effective medical waste management training is necessary for all healthcare officials and other staff to avoid unwanted diseases and proper hygienic surroundings. The initial and foremost way to prevent untoward infections from medical wastes is to carefully and timely dispose them off.
Medical waste can have a devastating impact on human health and the contaminated environment. Poor medical waste management can expose health care workers, patients, and community to many toxic infections.
Appropriate safety measures and proper medical waste management training can make a cleaner and safer environment. Fewer diseases and lower potential harm can lead to a better and healthy environment.
Let’s see some harmful effects of poor management of medical waste:
1 . Diseases from vaccines
Vaccinations are helpful in preventing chronic health conditions. However, if the used vaccines are not disposed of properly it can raise serious health issues to the environment and spread rapidly amongst humans. Most prone to these are infants and their parents as it needs to properly take care of.
2. Parasitic Infections
Medical waste can pose a serious to parasitic infections. Material which is contaminated by feces somehow ingests infectious bacteria. They can be carried out from research institutions and laboratories invading people’s digestive tract.
3. Blood poisoning
It can be caused through contaminated needles and infected instruments which get in touch with the blood of patients. It can be a source of severe infections and health complications which can be life-threatening.
4. Skin Infections
Infections of the skin usually originate through wounds and touching of contaminated surfaces. It can lead to swelling and bacterial infections causing adverse effects if not treated properly.
5. Sexual Infections
Sexual infections can be carried through contaminated syringes which facilitates getting in touch with the patient’s blood. Even a little contact with the bacteria through tiny breaks in the skin can lead to blood contamination.
6. Environmental Impact
Medical wastes are treated with chemical disinfectants which can release chemical substances into the environment. These chemicals can be harmful and may pollute essentials like air, water, and land. Unwanted accumulation or dumping medical waste may transmit diseases to animals creating large scale effects.
7. Meningitis
It can be described as an inflammation of membranes that protect the brain and spinal cord. People diagnosed with this suffer from headaches stiffness and fever spread through contaminated fluids.
Importance of Medical Waste Management
Healthcare centers are responsible in facilitating a healthy environment. People working in healthcare centers, clinics, pharmaceutical settings, and hospitals should propose safety measures involving risk minimization.
It should be mandatory for all the staff including nurses and janitors, doctors, housekeeping to get proper medical waste management training. It will help them in disposing of the hazardous waste properly and learning measures to ensure proper sanitization.
The focus is not only to minimize the impact on human health and the environment but increasing the healthcare worker’s safety. It will also help in promoting a healthy environment and self attitudes and implement proper medical waste management.
