Case study evaluation of health-care solid waste and pollution aspects in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

There has been a growing concern in recent times in Nigeria on the menace of health-care wastes in the country. This is particularly with respect to the haphazard management of health care wastes being linked partly with the spread of the dreaded Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). To provide the baseline data for coming up with sound management practices, a study was carried out to characterize and quantify the health-care solid wastes being generated in Ibadan, Nigeria. An examination of the strategies being used to manage health-care wastes was also carried out. A survey of four categories of fifty-two health care facilities spread across the eleven Local Government areas of Ibadan city was conducted. The facilities were categorized into Tertiary, Secondary, Primary and Diagnostic health care facilities based on size and function. The wastes generated in each facility were collected and measured for seven consecutive days, carefully sorted at the sources of generation in each facility. The secondary health-care facilities generate the peak amount of solid health-care waste, (being 10238 kg/d on the average per facility) followed by tertiary, primary and diagnostic health-care facilities in that order. The management practices in most facilities in the city are generally deplorable. Our assessment of the landfill sites show that they have been tuned into mere open dumps, with groundwater pollution being an apparent possibility. The study concluded with recommendations ranging from daily monitoring of generated wastes to its environmental-friendly disposal, in order to guarantee safe management of health-care wastes in the city. Keywords : health-care waste, characterization, quantification, Ibadan, Nigeria Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology Vol. 5(1&2) 2005: 27-32