DIAGNÓSTICO DE LA GESTIÓN DE LOS DESECHOS MÉDICOS INFECCIOSOS GENERADOS EN LOS HOSPITALES DEL CANTÓN PORTOVIEJO

Abstract

Infectious medical waste is the waste left in health centers that because of its bio infectious property, implicate an immediate or potential risk for the environment and people`s health. A diagnostic of the infectious medical waste management in the hospitals of Portoviejo is presented. The study included a measurement of the infectious waste volumes generated every month in the chosen health centers (IESS, SOLCA and Verdi Cevallos), evaluating the compliance of the current regulations. As well the persons in charge of the medical waste management, specialists and authorities; were interviewed. The hospitals in Portoviejo generate approximately 17 metric tons of medical infectious waste per month, which represents 54% of the total amount of waste they generate. For the external management of this type of waste, health care institutions invest 9723.47 USD every month. Throughout the processes of the medical waste management there were some regulations incompliances identified over the stages of generation, storage, collection, transportation and especially during the final disposal. Additionally, an ensemble of recommendations is made out of the founded discoveries and actions are proposed in the pursuit of a sustainable and an efficient management of the infectious medical waste.