Medical Waste Management and Treatment Techniques: Insights from Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan Region- Iraq

Inadequate medical waste management (MWM) has serious consequences for the environment and human health. Therefore, developing an optimal MWM system in healthcare facilities is of great importance . Unlike previous research, this study aimed to evaluate the MWM techniques practiced at private hospitals in Sulaymaniyah City. Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analytical methodologies were employed. Direct observation was conducted according to the guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with semi-structured interviews for qualitative data collection. The quantitative data on waste generation rates for the present study were derived from the pre-existing records maintained by the General Directorate of Health in Sulaymaniyah. The statistical and graphing software GraphPad Prism version 9.5.1 was used to analyze the data. The analysis revealed that the quantity of the hospitals’ monthly medical waste generation ranged between 274.0 ± 167.5 kg and 1212 ± 391.6 kg. Moreover, monthly medical waste generation per bed per hospital ranged between 20.20 ± 6.527 kg and 3.177 ± 0.8819 kg. It was also found that the daily generation rate ranges between 0.0576 and 0.827 kg/bed. Concerning management practice, all the studied hospitals have a separation system, a collection system, on-site temporary storage, and personal protective equipment. Meanwhile, 83% of the studied hospitals deliver training courses for their waste management staff. In addition, the three treatment techniques practiced are autoclave shredder systems, incineration, and deep burial.