Abstract

Background and Objective: Aggregating,sorting,and disposing of hospital wastes is of critical importance,given the risk they impose on the public health. Therefore,the present study is aimed at examining medical waste management system in educational medical centers associated with Urmia University of Medical Science in 2013. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out as a cross sectional work in all medical and educational centers associate with Urmia University of Medical Science through description,questionnaire,observation,and interview. The collected data was analyzed in Excel. Results: The results showed that 40 of the hospitals under study had received waste management operation plan and only 20 of them had prepared a list of hazardous materials produced in the hospital. Standards of handling chemical waste was not followed in any of the hospitals. The centers under study produced 4465 kg medical waste every day; out of which,1897 kg (42) was infectious waste and 2565 kg (58) was non-infectious waste. Volume of sharp and pointy wastes was 20.5 kg/day,and volume of chemical and pharmaceutical waste was 0.012 kg/day. Conclusion: The results showed that performance of the waste management system was not satisfactory and majority of the hospitals had taken no measure to handle chemical and pharmaceutical wastes in particular. It is notable thatextending accurate supervision system could be an effective step toward reducing the waste production volume and improving quality of management,supply,preservation,and improvement of the patient,the personnel,and the public health. It is worthy to note that holding training courses for all personnel including interns,residents,nurses,and nurse assistants are necessary to reach the objective of medical waste management law. © 2016,International Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. All rights reserved.