Abstract

Study of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices among Sanitary Workers Regarding Medical Waste Management in Khartoum Locality Teaching Hospitals, 2019

Health care waste is considered as a risk or dangerous to public health and the environment. The exposure of patients, staff, waste handlers, visitors and the community to medical waste is due to bad management practices in hospitals and health care centers. This cross sectional descriptive study was carried out in in Khartoum Locality Teaching Hospitals with the aim to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices among the health sanitary workers towards medical waste management. Total 210 respondents were participated in the study; the study uses questionnaires, interviews and observations as tools for data collection. The collected data were analyzed by Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the result was presented in text, figures and tables. The study revealed that 42.4% of the respondents have excellent knowledge about hazardous waste. Nearly half, 45.2% of the respondents have excellent and very good knowledge concerning waste transmitting diseases. 95.2%, 82.9%, 66.2%, 22.8% and 53.8% have favorable attitudes towards wearing gloves, wearing an apron, wearing masks, wearing boots, wearing gloves during the work respectively. 83.3% wash their hands after the work, but only 33.3% use soap. This study showed that females were significantly more knowledgeable, having favorable attitude, and better practices towards medical waste than males. The Study recommended that the Occupational Health Department in State Ministry of Health should apply programs to encourage the health workers to use the personal protective equipment.. 

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