WASTE MANAGEMENT AT DENTAL HOSPITALS OF RAWALPINDI – ISLAMABAD REGION

Background and Objective: Hospital waste management is a crucial environmental and public safety issue, due to the infectious and hazardous character of waste. Thus, focus of the study was to get information about methods of hospital waste segregation and ultimate disposal being used at teaching dental hospitals of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Methods: A questionnaire based cross sectional study conducted in November 2014, collected information from the administrators of hospitals in order to assess the medical / dental waste management practices of dental hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Results: Among the five teaching dental hospital of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, four responded to our questionnaire. The results revealed that the hospitals quantify and segregate medical wastes into infectious and non-infectious waste. Incineration was used as prime method of infectious waste disposal. Conclusion: Situation of hospital waste management at teaching dental hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad is satisfactory within the available limited resources; however, there is still room for improvement.