A Survey and Analysis of Production and Management of Medical Waste in Golestan Province, Iran

Medical waste is one of the challenges of the modern society which its poor management has undesirable impacts on the environment and human health. The present research addresses the current situation of medical wastes in Golestan province in the North of Iran. This is a descriptive analysis that includes data collection, field survey, and Iranian Department of the Environment (DOE) standard questionnaires for management and monitoring of medical waste in hospitals of the province. The results show that 25 hospitals with 2247 active beds produce 3574 and 2252 domestic and hazardous waste per day, respectively. The waste generation is 2.59 kg/day/bed (1 and 1.59 kg for hazardous and domestic, respectively). Disinfection process in 88% of all hospitals is active and 44% and 52% of the hospitals have done outsourcing, respectively. Disinfection methods include chemical, steam autoclave and dry heat which the second method is the most frequent in most hospitals. Also, 16 hospitals provide monitoring self-reports. The overall situation of medical waste management in the hospitals of Golestan province is average. Considering the change of environmental situation of the country in the future years, the management of this type of wastes should be more serious and it is necessary to design and implement operational programmes for optimum management.