Medical Waste Management in Lebanese Hospitals

Problem: In Lebanon, health authorities have not set regulations to guide the process of medical waste management in hospitals. Objective: To assess the situation of medical waste management in Lebanese hospitals and determine the factors that affect its application. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was carried involving random private and public hospitals. Thirty hospitals were recruited, and they were surveyed using a validated questionnaire to collect responses from hospitals. SPSS version 24 was used to perform the descriptive and bivariate analysis by chi-square test (p < 0.05). A score was constructed to be the dependent variable of the linear regression which involved a group of predictors. Results: According to the used score, 70% of the hospitals showed high waste management. Their locations showed significant association with the type of waste transport chosen (p = 0.072) and disposal of chemical wastes (p = 0.012). Different practices showed positive correlation with good waste management. Some confounders had strong association such as segregation at site, staff training and budget allocation, while others showed weak positive association such as having proper containers and sufficient equipment. Conclusion: Due to the lack of local guidelines, hospitals obey international guidelines for proper waste management in which pharmacists might play a major role by controlling their stocks and preparing medications especially cytotoxic ones correctly.