13 February 2023
Medical Waste treatment in Senegal: a New Approach
Africa is estimated to have 67,740 health facilities and produce approximately 282,447 tons of medical waste every year. Increases in population and the number of health-care facilities have significantly increased biomedical waste generation.
While healthcare facilities are essential for preventive and curative care, they increasingly generate a significant volume of waste.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 80% of the waste typically produced by health-care providers, coming primarily from the administrative, kitchen, and housekeeping functions at health-care facilities, are non-hazardous waste and comparable to domestic waste.
Healthcare waste generation, improper or poor treatment, and disposal expose patients, healthcare workers, and the public to infectious pathogens, toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and substances that are genotoxic.
Senegal has a total of 79 sanitary districts(SDs), 103 health centers, 1,415 dispensaries 2,676 health units. (Agence national de la Statistique et de la Démographie ( ANSD/2019).
This huge number of health-care facilities indicates the volume of biomedical waste generated, and potential threats to human health and the environment if managed improperly.
International Conventions
Like many countries around the world, Senegal has ratified most of the international agreements, aimed at protecting human populations and the environment to regulate hazardous waste.
In May 1992, Senegal joined the rank of more than 100 countries that ratified the Basel Convention, which was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous wastes between nations, and more specifically prevent the transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries.
In march 1996 the country ratified the Bamako Convention, which is an African treaty to protect the fragile states in Africa against hazardous waste and transboundary movements of hazardous waste, including radioactive wastes from developed countries.
In 2001 Senegal also ratified the Stockholm Convention, adopted in 2001 and aimed at protecting human health and the environment against particular toxic and persistent pollutants.
While countries are phasing out incinerators as the preferred treatment technique for medical waste because of human health and environmental issues, Incineration is often the favored disposal method due to the rapid diminishment of up to 90% of waste.
Also in Senegal, medical waste incineration was disposed of in old and outdated models of incinerators or in artisanal ovens, therefore emitting huge smoke with heavy metal, chlorinated organic particles, and harmful gasses that pollute the air and cause risks of environmental degradation, soil and water contamination and poisoning of people and animals. Ineffective and improper incineration is comparable to open burning.
Newster Installations
Senegal chose Newster technology for the treatment of medical waste in several hospitals.
Newster Frictional Heat technology is a sustainable and alternative method to incineration - recognized by current laws concerning the management of healthcare hazardous waste and by international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) - which enables hospitals to process solid waste in a cost-effective way, reducing the risk of infection.
This solution will improve safety by bringing into the process well-trained and equipped personnel.
Advantages of the Newster sterilization process
The Frictional Heat Technology is in fact a valid and effective solution against the spread of the Covid-19 virus and possible infections that could occur during storage and transport activities or the final disposal of medical waste.
Being able to treat various types of material without adverse effects on the process efficiency, Newster sterilizers allow treating all types of materials from infectious departments or from areas identified as outbreaks of the epidemic, without any segregation pre-treatment, thus facilitating the work of healthcare professionals and the movement of hazardous material within areas not yet affected by the epidemic.
We wish these machines a long life!
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