Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(12): 1238-1243 1238 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.812.153 A Study on the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Bio-medical Waste Management among Health Care Professionals from a Rural Medical College in North India Kanishtha Sharma 1 , Meenakshi Khajuria 2* , Qazi Mohd Iqbal 3 and Kuldeep Singh 4 1 Department of Microbiology, 2 Department of Pathology, 3 Department of Community Medicine, GMC, Rajouri, Jammu University, J&K, 185131, India 4 Government Medical College, Rajouri, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction According to Bio- Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 of India, “Bio-medical waste (BMW) “means any waste, which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or in research or in the production or testing of biological products. With the considerable growth of health-care facilities both in government and private sector in our country, the amount of bio-medical waste generated is also increasing. It is estimated that of the total waste generated in health-care sectors, 85% of waste is non- hazardous and 15% is bio-hazardous waste. On an average about 0.33 million tons of hospital waste is generated in India annually International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 12 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Bio-medical waste management is a matter of great concern. Health-care workers in our country are not fully aware of the various practices of waste management leading to injuries and spread of infection to the patients, staff and environment. This cross sectional study was conducted among HCWs working at GMC, Rajouri, J&K, India. A pre-designed questionnaire was used for data collection regarding BMW management. A total of 90 HCWs participated. 48 (53.33 %) were aware that BMW Rules were first proposed in 1998. 74 (82.22%) opined that infected cotton pads and dressings should be disposed in yellow bags. 20 (22.22%) knew that maximum time limit for storage of BMW was 48 hrs. Nurses had better knowledge as compared to doctors and technicians. Need for regular training programs to improve practices of proper waste disposal in hospital settings. Keywords Attitude, Bio- medical waste management, Health-care workers, Questionnaire Accepted: 12 November 2019 Available Online: 10 December 2019 Article Info