Determinants of access to waste management services in healthcare facilities in 14 low- and middle-income countries.

ABSTRACT: Healthcare waste management is crucial in preventing infections and injuries. However, only an estimated 31% of healthcare facilities in least-developed countries had basic waste management in 2023. We employed multilevel modelling to assess healthcare facility-level and country-level predictors of 6 elements of safe waste management (e.g. having a functional incinerator, having bins for waste segregation) across 2002 healthcare facilities in 14 countries. Eight percent (n = 154) of the surveyed facilities had basic waste management. Facilities with working electricity had higher odds of having a functional waste incinerator (odds ratio (OR): 1.26, p < 0.01), bins for safe waste segregation (OR: 1.28, p = 0.02), and proper sharps waste disposal (OR: 1.48, p < 0.

SUBMITTER: Tantum LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12874736 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature