Browsing by Author "Banda, Ella"

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    Evaluation of pharmaceutical waste and wastewater management in health facilties
    (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, 2021-03-17) Banda, Ella; Zulu, Daisy
    Type of study/Place of study: This is a descriptive cross sectional design study, which will involve structured questionnaires, face to face interviews and direct observation by investigators. The study will be conducted in six health facilities in Blantyre. Background and Introduction: Pharmaceutical waste is any waste which contains expired, spilt, unused and contaminated pharmaceutical products like drugs and vaccines. It also includes vials, bottles, IV bags/tubing, oral medications, ointments, creams and other items that are used in handling pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical wastewater is defined as water that is not clean because it has already been used in the pharmaceuticals. The management practices of these wastes involve a series of processes from segregation; treatment; storage; transportation and final disposal of the waste through landfills, incineration, sewer, burning in open containers. Pharmaceutical waste and wastewater produced in health facilities pose a risk to health of the public and the environment. However, there is paucity of information on the management and disposal practices by the health facilities in Blantyre. Study Objectives: The main objective of the study is to evaluate the pharmaceutical waste and wastewater management practices in health facilities in Blantyre. The specific objectives are to: i) determine the existing pharmaceutical waste methods and practices used in the selected health facilities, ii) assess the application and compliance of policies and guidelines on pharmaceutical waste and wastewater by health workers, and iii) identify resources used in pharmaceutical waste management. Methodology: The study will be conducted in six health facilities in Blantyre, three in rural health facilities and three in urban health facilities. Health workers in the selected health facilities will be identified by a purposive sampling method and interviewed. The survey will seek to identify the resources used for waste management, health workers’ knowledge of pharmaceutical waste methods and practices and bottlenecks for waste handling in the facilities. Data Management and Dissemination: The quantitative data will be entered into Microsoft excel, this data will be processed into graphs, tables and charts. The research results will be disseminated through oral presentation to the Pharmacy Department College of Medicine and the final project report will be submitted to COMREC, Pharmacy department, College of Medicine library and academic staff. Expected Findings: It is hypothesized that the majority of the selected health facilities will have poor pharmaceutical waste and waste water management practices because of inadequate human resources, finances, inadequate infrastructure like incinerators and lack of knowledge of the personnel on proper handling of these wastes.