An Assessment of Hospital Wastes Management in Minna: Towards a Waste Management Approach in a Growing Urban Area

The motive for this study arises from the concern for the proper management of hospital wastes generation in Minna and its environs. In the study, various hospital wastes generation, transportation, treatment and disposal techniques were examined, and applied in the management of hospital wastes in health institutions in the study area. Hospital wastes management strategies, the problems and implications of such strategies were examined. The major findings showed that the health establishments in the study area recognized the hazardous nature of hospital wastes but there is a lukewarm attitude, given by some of them, towards the segregation techniques of wastes disposal, while other health institutions subject their wastes to treatment but other do not before disposal. There is also the management of hospital wastes in the study area by some management agencies but with little management capabilities as a result of poor equipment and lack of competent personnel. The recommendation contained in this study will go a long way to correct the observed problems in the management of hospital wastes and also help to evolve better planning approach to the establishment of hospital wastes management techniques in the study area in the future.