International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 5(1), pp. 001-010, 2017 Available online at http://www.ijsrpub.com/ijsrk ISSN: 2322-4541; ©2017; Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://dx.doi.org/10.12983/ijsrk-2017-p0001-0010 1 Full Length Research Paper Assessment of Healthcare Waste Management Practices Employed by Health Workers in Health Facilities in Bushenyi District Western Uganda Sambo Haruna Aliyu 1* , Emurot Simon Peter 1 , Awatta Walter Ochan 1 , Moazzam Mohiuddin 1 , Adamu Almustapha Aleiro 2 1 Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Department of public health, Kampala international university western campus, Ishaka Bushenyi, Uganda 2 Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Microbiology and immunology, Kampala international university western campus, Ishaka Bushenyi, Uganda *Corresponding Author E-mail: harunsambo@yahoo.com; Phone Numbers: +256754967330, +2348033609629 Received 26 October 2016; Accepted 19 January 2017 Abstract. Globally healthcare waste has been identified as a major problem that has the potential of impacting negatively on both human health and environment for decades. The study was conducted to assess healthcare waste management practices employed by health workers in health facilities in Bushenyi District western Uganda. The study design adapted was a descriptive and cross sectional type and both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Twelve out of a total of 38 health facilities present in the district were selected. A range of methods employed for the collection of data included questionnaire survey which targeted 340 stratified randomly selected healthcare workers, formal interviews as well as field observations. The results depicts that majority of the respondents 263 (77.4%) agreed that healthcare waste was been segregated at their facilities while 51 (15%) denied the existence of segregation. However observations revealed that Segregation was applied only to sharps which was collected in special sharp boxes Furthermore 47 (13.8%) of the respondents do not use protective equipment when handling healthcare waste while majority of the respondents 293 (86.2%) have agreed to usage of protective equipment. The use of hands was identified as the most common mode of transportation as indicated 214 (62.9%) of the respondents while open pit burning was identified as the commonest method of waste disposal. Based on the study findings it was revealed that healthcare waste was improperly managed and majority of healthcare workers were not in compliance with Ugandans health workers guide. Keywords: Healthcare, Disposal, Practice, Management 1. INTRODUCTION Globally concerns on the risks associated with healthcare waste as well as its management have been on an increase in recent times (Ananth et al., 2010). The united states environmental protection agency defines healthcare waste as that which contains all waste materials generated by health care facilities, such as hospitals, clinics, physician’s offices, dental practices, blood banks, and veterinary hospitals/clinics, as well as at medical research facilities and laboratories (USEPA, 2013). On the other hand, healthcare waste management comprises a number of activities which includes waste generation, segregation, transportation, storage; treatment as well as final disposal of all types of healthcare waste all of this aforementioned stage does require special attention (Manyele and Lyasenga, 2010). The evolution of a separate category of healthcare waste within the municipal waste stream dates back to the late 1970s, when it was observed that hazardous waste including syringes and bandages where washed up in the eastern US Coast (Frost and Sullivan, 2009). There was a public outcry which led to the formulation of the US medical waste tracking act which finally came into force on November 1, 1988 (Holmes, 2009). In the year 1990, the European Union established the fact that health care waste is considered to be a priority waste due to the potential hazards they pose on human health and the environment (Leonardo, 2011). In developing countries it has been documented that healthcare waste has not received the needed attention as hospitals in both urban and rural settings dispose their waste in a way that poses risk of diseases to populations (Almuneef and Memish, 2003). The obstacles towards the success recorded in healthcare