Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices about Biomedical Waste Management among Healthcare Personnel in Primary Healthcare Centers in Western Maharashtra.

Background: The absence of proper waste management, lack of awareness about the health hazards of biomedical wastes, and poor control of waste disposal pose the most critical problems. It is essential for healthcare workers to have the knowledge, practice, and safe method for biomedical waste handling. Our objective is to assess the knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) about BMW management among healthcare workers working at PHC in rural health areas. Methods: The present community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among the healthcare personnel in primary healthcare centers in randomly selected Taluka of Western Maharashtra. For this questionnaire-based cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was designed which includes,relevant aspects of BMW Management like knowledge about various types of biomedical waste, its disposal in various color-coded bags, and its transport. Through the one-to-one interview, information was obtained as per the questionnaire. Data entry was done in a Microsoft Excel sheet and analysis was done. Proportion & percentage were used to interpret the result. Conclusions: There was a lack of knowledge regarding segregation & transmission of diseases through BMW among sanitary staff. It also shows that enough precautions were not being taken for preventing needle stick injuries among nurses and sanitary staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]