Medical waste management of village clinics in rural China
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Medical waste management of village clinics in rural China Qiufeng Gao 1 & Kai Liu 1 & Shuyi Song 1 & Jason Li 1 & Jingchun Nie 1 Tina Phillips Johnson 3 & James Cook 3
&
Yaojiang Shi 1 & Yaqin Xia 2 &
Received: 21 April 2020 / Accepted: 8 October 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose Medical waste is rising on policy agendas as a serious public health and environmental issue. The aim of this study was to assess current practices of medical waste management, which include waste generation, collection, storage, segregation, disposal, and use of protective equipment, in village clinics in rural China. Methods Based on survey results from 236 randomly selected village clinics in 21 counties from three provinces of China, we used descriptive statistics to determine the medical waste management of village clinics in sample area. Results We found that the generation rate of medical waste in sampled village clinics was approximately 0.65 kg per day or 0.17 kg/patient per day on average. Given the large number of primary healthcare facilities and population in rural areas of China, the total quantity of medical waste generated in these facilities is noteworthy. However, we also found poor compliance levels with the national regulations regarding medical waste management practices. A large proportion of medical waste was still not packed in required containers, and almost all village clinics did not segregate correctly. Moreover, a significant portion of village clinics used improper disposal methods and lacked the necessary protective equipment. Medical staff in these facilities pointed out four main difficulties in complying with national regulations: a lack of funding, equipment, designated areas, and management personnel specifically delegated for medical waste management. Conclusion These findings suggest that Chinese policymakers and health administrators should pay more attention to rural areas in addressing potentially hazardous medical waste management practices by investing financial support as well as developing specific guidelines tailored to resource-strained rural primary healthcare facilities. Keywords China . Medical waste management . Village clinics . Public health
Introduction Medical waste mismanagement has become an increasingly urgent public health and environmental issue worldwide (Malekahmadi et al. 2014; Reza et al. 2007; Shinee et al. 2008). As one of the largest and fastest-growing developing countries in the world, China is also facing important challenges with respect to the management of medical waste (Geng et al. 2013). Previous studies have found that China
* Jingchun Nie [email protected] 1
Center for Experimental Economics in Education, Shaanxi Normal University, 620 Chang’an Rd West, Chang’an District, Xi’an 710119, Shaanxi Province, China
2
School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
3
Asian Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
generates around 650,000 tons of medic
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