Practices of waste management in health care facilities in Nepal's Biratnagar metropolitan city

Biratnagar is a medical referral centre with tertiary health care in Eastern Nepal. The city population is 202,061, according to the 2011 census. There are 35 Health Care Facilities (HCFs) in the city as of 2014. There are 7 HCFs, 2 non-governmental HCFs, and 26 private HCFs. In 2014, the District Public Health Office Morang, the Biratnagar municipality, and the private sector collaborated to check Biratnagar's health care waste management. Investigators performed a semi-structured questionnaire and checklists while visiting health care sites. According to the survey results, 10% of HCFs use incinerators. 80% of HCFs separate their garbage, 60% use needle destroyer machines, and 50% use coloured dustbins to separate different sorts of medical waste. The bed occupancy rate is 78%. Every day, one sweeper looks for 6.66 beds. Even 10% of HCFs let their waste out in the open. HCFs do not have enough capacity for waste disposal facilities. Thus, HCFs pay the municipality Rs. 1500- 15000 a month to have the facility's waste removed. In the municipality tractor, they are hauling medical garbage and home rubbish. As a result, the city discharges health care waste with household waste in the Singhiaya River. These actions endanger public health. Biratnagar city generates 118 Kgs of hazardous health care waste daily, necessitating immediate treatment. Biratnagar Municipality should collaborate with partners to develop a short and long-term strategy.