EFFECT OF HEALTH AWARENESS INTERVENTIONS ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES OF HEALTH PROVIDERS AND WORKERS INVOLVE IN HEALTH CARE WASTE ASPECTS AT KHARTOUM NORTH TEACHING HOSPITAL.

Osman Babiker Osman*, Fatima Fadul ALI Osman, Maha Hamad Mohamed and Hatim Rahamtalla Mohamed Ahmed

ABSTRACT

Health care waste can cause immediate short term public health problem as well as long term environmental pollution if not properly managed. Health care waste constitutes major health hazards to the handlers, particularly hepatitis B and human immune-deficiency virus as well as environmental pollution. The study aimed to assess the health practices and raise awareness of staff towards health care waste management, to train health staff to protect themselves from the hazards of and to improve methods of management in Khartoum North Teaching Hospital. A sample size of 384-targeted staff, including, physicians, nurses, medical assistants, technicians and workers were included in the study. The intervention includes; training of junior staff, group discussions for planners and decision makers, audiovisual aids, regular meeting for the responsible person and committee. Data were collected before and after the intervention using standardized structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS Program, paired sample T- test and chi square test are used to interprets the significance before and after intervention. The results revealed a remarkable improvement in the knowledge, concept and practices regarding the hazards of. The study concluded that health education intervention has yielded remarkable improvement in knowledge, attitude and practices of health staff towards management and safety measures during handling. The study recommend the importance of training program for all staff involved in (HCW) management.

Keywords: awareness, waste, health education.