Expenditure Patterns of Medical Waste Management

The present study documents the handling practice of waste along with the types and amount of wastes generated by a state-run hospital in a backward district in Tamil Nadu. It is based on secondary data and is confined to Bio- Medical Waste (BMW) Management, covering the period from September 2008 to June 2011. In this Hospital there are six wards (male, female, children, maternity, neonatal and post-operative) with 84 beds. On an average 800 patients are treated every day. The total BMW generated is less than 10 kg per day from all the wards. The Hospital spent ₹ 165059 for 6113.30 kgs of BMW during the study period. The waste generated rate was estimated at 5.92 kgs per day. It spent ₹ 159 per day for disposing the waste and it spent ₹ 3 per bed per day and ₹ 0.01 per patient per day. The process of collection, segregation and disposal of medical waste was not performed according to recommended standards and concerned people were exposed to its danger. It is essential to handle, dispose of and treat bio-medical waste in a scientific and cost effective manner. Due to increase in the number of inpatients and outpatients', one would expect increase in bio-medical waste. The case study of this Hospital reveals useful insights towards the management of this waste.