Handling of Syringe Sharps in A Non-Incineration Health Care Waste Disposal

An attempt has been made by the R&D team of the University of Dar es Salaam todesign and manufacture two needle cutter prototypes, a manually operated and anautomatic needle cutter to be used in rural and urban areas, respectively. This is part ofthe UNDP and WHO efforts aimed at promoting the non-burn medical waste disposaltechnologies in developing countries such as Argentina, India, Latvia, Lebanon,Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania and Vietnam. The project also involves designing andmanufacturing of the autoclaves for sterilizing of needle cutters and other infectiousmedical waste. The use of needle cutters in hospitals is aimed at cutting the needles offfrom syringes hence eliminating the possibility of being re-used as may be the case ifthey are just buried in landfills. The needles and plastic barrels of the syringes are thensterilized at 121 o C in an autoclave before disposing them in land-fills or recycling them.It should be noted that unlike manual needle cutters, automatic needle cutters do not adda step in administering injection and hence they are likely to be accepted by nurses andhealth care authorities. Two types of automatic cutter prototypes were developed byUDSM R&D Team; one using pneumatic mechanisms and the other one using a 12V-DC motor to cut the syringe needles and to push the plastic barrel into the wastecontainer. Of the two, the 12V-DC motor operated mechanism was found to beaffordable and suitable for use in rural areas also since it can easily use solar power.The above prototypes have already been manufactured and tested and found to beworking properly. Views of various stakeholders were used to improve and perfect thedesigns. The costs of these prototypes are estimated to be USD 50 and 150 for manuallyoperated needle cutter and 12V-DC operated needle cutter, respectively. Thesetechnologies, except the automatic needle cutters, have already been disseminated tolocal producers so as to be able to manufacture the same in mass production and atmuch more affordable costs. Training on the use of non-burn technologies includingmanagement of medical waste is essential for successful implementation of thesetechnologies. There is a need also to sensitize the Government, Municipal Authoritiesand Healthcare Authorities including hospitals on non-burn disposal of medical wastefor the project to be successful.