Journal of
Public Health and Epidemiology

  • Abbreviation: J. Public Health Epidemiol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2316
  • DOI: 10.5897/JPHE
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 651

Article in Press

Healthcare Waste Management in Nigeria: Comparing what Healthcare Workers in Public and Private Health Facilities Practice


  •  Received: 11 January 2021
  •  Accepted: 11 January 2021
Background: Globally, hospital waste is of importance as its hazardous effects may cause disease transmission. Despite this, most studies done in Nigeria asses it in limited scope. Therefore, this study assess and compare hospital waste management practices in public and private health institutions in South-western, Nigeria. Materials: A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare workers at the local government areas (LGAs) of Oyo State. Using a multi-stage sampling technique with 200 recruited respondents from public and private hospitals respectively. A pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered to obtain necessary information. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22 and bivariate analysis was done. Results: The practice of waste management was better in private hospitals (81.0%) than in public hospitals (70.5%). Healthcare waste management practices were significantly associated with age, job category and work section in public facilities. After controlling for confounders, job category was still significantly associated with practice in public hospitals (P = 0.040). Conclusion: About eight out of ten in private hospitals compared to seven out of ten public hospitals had good waste management practices. It was therefore recommended that there is need to improve on training of healthcare workers on hospital waste management in public hospitals.

Keywords: Practice, Hospital waste management, Public, Private, Health workers