POST 00675E : WASTE MANAGEMENT EVALUATION
Follow-up on Post 00665E
18 May 2004
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Samuel Kamau (mailto:
[email protected]) from Kenya comments and makes
suggestions on waste management system evaluation.
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Dear Dr.Dial
I read your e-mail and I felt of commenting or suggesting one or two things
as you ponder on how you are going to do the evaluation. We should
appreciate that most EPI in developing countries have realized the
importance of sorting a problem they created after 20 years of EPI
maturity. We are still making the same mistake of talking of EPI related
wastes instead of talking of total hospital wastes management in totality.
We have been training health workers on how to integrate EPI service into
Primary Health Care and we can not again just talk of sharps wastes due to
immunizations alone.
I have witnessed this in our EPI here in Kenya where we put up some De
Montfort Incinerators and no consideration was given to the other wastes.
As you plan for your evaluation I suggest you plan for a comprehensive and
integrated evaluation where all sections within the hospital generate the
sharps and non-sharps wastes are included. Also how much workload and how
much of each category of wastes is generated per day in terms of
composition and quantity. The reason is that once you put up an incinerator
the health workers know that it is for all wastes but not for a particular
programme of which again it will be against the on going health reform.
All departments and as many health workers should be involved. The issue of
wastes management is not being given the much attention it deserves and in
most health institutions there is no management structure on who is
responsible on the day to day issuance of wastes collection receptacles,
frequency of collection, handling care and the final delivery to the
disposal point.
This is a challenge to all of us
S.M KAMAU
National Logistician EPI KENYA
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