AIDSFree Nigeria Assessment of Infection Prevention and Control and Health Care Waste Management in Selected LGAs in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Rivers States

In developing countries, health care waste management (HCWM) has not received the attention it deserves, and as a result, hazardous medical wastes are handled and disposed of with general municipal waste—at great risk to the health of clinic service providers (CSPs), environmental health officers (EHOs), waste handlers, the public, and the environment.

In Nigeria, with U.S. Government initiatives to scale up HIV services to reduce the number of children born with HIV, health care services are being decentralized to primary health care facilities (PHCs); it is expected that this increase in service provision will concomitantly increase quantities of waste—and create a greater-than-ever need to strengthen HCWM systems. An assessment of sampled health facilities in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Rivers states was conducted by the AIDSFree Project. The assessment is the subject of this report. JSI/AIDSFree Project. 2016.