Survey on medical waste disposal in medical and healthcare institutions in Hefei City

Objective To investigate the production, disposal, and disinfection management of medical waste in medical and healthcare institutions in Hefei City, so as to provide a basis for further improving the disposal work of medical waste in the city's medical and healthcare institutions.

Methods A stratified random sampling method was used to assess the current status of medical waste generation, disposal, and disinfection management in 145 medical and healthcare institutions in Hefei.

Results The daily disposal volume of medical waste in the 145 medical and healthcare institutions was 7 511.99 kg, of which the total daily production volume of medical waste in tertiary hospitals, secondary hospitals, primary hospitals, and ungraded medical and healthcare institutions were 4 686.37, 2 200.95, 418.40, and 206.27 kg, respectively. The medical waste production coefficients per bed were 0.40, 0.40, 0.33, and 0.27 kg·day⁻¹, respectively. The percentages of tertiary hospitals, secondary hospitals, primary hospitals and ungraded medical and healthcare institutions that had set up independent temporary storage rooms for medical waste were 100.0% (15/15), 97.4% (38/39), 100.0%（25/25）, and 80.3% (53/66), respectively, and the proportions of timely transfer of medical waste were 100.0% (15/15), 97.4% (38/39) , 92.0% (23/25) , 72.7% (48/66), respectively, with statistically significant differences (χ²=12.046 and 15.507, both P<0.01).

Conclusion The management of medical waste in primary medical and health institutions is weak, with lower rates of the setting up independent medical waste storage rooms and timely transfer of medical waste. Training and supervision should be strengthened to promote the establishment of a system for medical waste management at the grassroots level.