Nature Environment and Pollution Technology (Sep 2023)

Analysis of Solid Waste in Hospitals of Lahan and Rajbiraj Municipalities, Madhesh Province, Nepal

  • R. S. Mehta, R. C. Adhikari and B. B. Bist

DOI
https://doi.org/10.46488/NEPT.2023.v22i03.012
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 22, no. 3
pp. 1239 – 1249

Abstract

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Hospital waste is a burning issue that severely impacts public health. This study in three big hospitals in Lahan and Rajbiraj, Nepal, for one year (2019 March-2020 February) aims to analyze some parameters that directly help waste management properly. Field study, questionnaire, and interview methods were followed. The average moisture content of wastes of all three hospitals was 55.79%. There was no variance in the three hospitals’ moisture content values of wastes (F = 1.89 P-value = 0.165 F crit = 3.284917651). The average temperature of dumped waste was 23.23°C, and the temperature of all three hospitals was closely associated (F = 0.998, P-value 0.379, Fcrit = 3.28). The average pH value of wastes from the three hospitals was 4.44, and it from all three sites was strongly associated (F = 0.0668, P-value 0.935, Fcrit = 3.284). There was no relation between income and types of waste production (ꭕ2 = 0.8, df = 4, significance level = 0.05), but there was a high association between the level of income and amount of waste production. There was a high association between the nature of hospitals and types and the amount of waste (ꭕ2 = 77.09, df = 4, Significance level = 0.05). In Sagarmatha Choudhary eye hospital Lahan, there was no significant correlation between the number of patients and the amount of waste (Correlation = -0.187889 at 0.05% significance level). Unique Hospital Rajbiraj showed a correlation between the number of patients and the amount of waste (correlation = 0.1183 at 0.05% significance level). In Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital, there was a correlation between the number of patients and the amount of waste (Correlation = 0.3453, at 0.05% significance level). There was no association between the qualification of respondents and their responsibilities regarding the services provided by hospitals (ꭕ2 = 1.43, df = 6, Significance level = 0.05). It is recommended for better management and installment of modern technologies for waste management.

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