A Study on Small Clinics Waste Management Practice, Rules, Staff Knowledge, and Motivating Factor in a Rapidly Urbanizing Area

Bilal Ahmed Khan, Aves Ahmed Khan, Haris Ahmed, Shazia Shaheen Shaikh, Zhaiming Peng and Longsheng Cheng
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Bilal Ahmed Khan: School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Aves Ahmed Khan: School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Haris Ahmed: Institute of Business Administration, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76090, Pakistan
Shazia Shaheen Shaikh: School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Zhaiming Peng: School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Longsheng Cheng: School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: Thousands of small clinics in Pakistan are generating dispersed medical waste, unlike large hospitals, small clinic waste management is often ignored. This study was conducted on 135 small clinics in Hyderabad, Pakistan, with the aim to determine small clinics’ waste management practices in contrast to rules, level of knowledge, the environmental impact of disposal methods, and motivating factor analysis to understand the current situation from multiple perspectives. Overall, the waste generation rate was calculated to be 2.01 kg/clinic/day and the hazardous waste generation rate was 0.89 kg/clinic/day, whereas the general waste generation rate was 1.12 kg/clinic/day. The hazardous waste generation rate percentage is found to be higher than those found in large hospitals by 20%. The waste management practice among surveyed clinics was deplorable; none of the clinics were completely following hospital waste management rules of 2005 and thus the absence of proper segregation, storage, transportation, and disposal was commonly encountered during the study. Clinic staff possessed low level of knowledge and awareness, and acquired no training about waste management practice and rules, moreover, frequent employee turnover was noticed too. Additionally, two hypotheses were checked for creditability of motivating factors with an exploratory factor analysis to check their contribution to motivating clinic staff to practice sound healthcare waste management. Out of 10 indicators, nine were found in support of the hypotheses. Hence, it was discovered that active government involvement and financial support in providing training and inspecting small clinics could help in improving the condition. The findings of the present study can play a vital role in documenting evidence, and for policymakers and governments to plan solid waste management of small clinics and other healthcare facilities.

Keywords: healthcare waste; small clinics; exploratory factor analysis; waste generation; regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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