Performance of Healthcare Facilities of Different Levels towards Safe Healthcare Waste Management as Linked to Infection Prevention and Control Standards in Tanzania

Abstract

The aim of this study was to ascertain performance of Healthcare Facilities on safe healthcare waste management practices. To achieve this, a national assessment was conducted country wide to assess performance of various healthcare practices related to waste materials management, WASH, and Hygiene practices as linked to infection prevention and control. The assessment of healthcare waste management in the facilities was conducted in all the 26 regions of Tanzania Mainland for one month. A standardized checklist and tools were used to assess and monitor various aspects related to healthcare waste management using open source software for data collection (ODK). Data were analyzed using SPSS computer software. It was observed that most of permanent staff (88%) in the Healthcare facilities had knowledge on hand hygiene, but the gap was observed to the waste handlers (12%) who were not equipped with the hand hygiene knowledge. About 89% of the hand washing stations were available at mortuary units, followed by 75% at main entrance and the lowest was 3% at waste zone areas of the healthcare facilities. Hand washing materials like soap were mainly found at theaters (64%) followed by mortuary (60%) and last at waste zones. The assessment concludes that handling of healthcare wastes is not practiced to the expectations, and there is a need to strengthen the situation. The findings provide evidence for those engaged in improving HCF conditions to develop evidence-based policies and efficient programs, enhance service delivery systems, and make better use of available resources.