A Study on Assessing Public Awareness and Perceived Problems in Hospital Waste Management

Hospitals generate huge of waste which is difficult to manage effectively. Waste generated from hospital create huge treat to both health and environment. The present study assesses public awareness regarding hospital waste management and identifies the perceived problems experienced by the general public. A structured questionnaire was administered to 100 respondents residing in Ranni Taluk, Pathanamthitta District, Kerala. Since the data were non-parametric in nature, descriptive statistics along with Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were employed for analysis. The findings of the study reveal that there is no statistical difference in awareness between male and female respondents and is a difference in awareness based on hospital visiting frequency. It also indicates that proximity to hospitals significantly influence the problems experienced by public. General awareness is although high but specific awareness of Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules 2016 is lower.