Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov 13:8:592345.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.592345. eCollection 2020.

Perception and Attitudes Toward PPE-Related Waste Disposal Amid COVID-19 in Bangladesh: An Exploratory Study

S M Didar-Ul Islam  1   2 , Mariam Binte Safiq  3   4 , Md Bodrud-Doza  5 , Mohammed A Mamun  3   6
Affiliations

Perception and Attitudes Toward PPE-Related Waste Disposal Amid COVID-19 in Bangladesh: An Exploratory Study

S M Didar-Ul Islam et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is an essential item to protect from exposure to infectious pathogens or contaminants, which is frequently used at health care settings and public spheres since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. There is no prior study investigating public perception and attitudes toward PPE-related waste disposal in Bangladesh. Hence, an online survey was carried out among 1,303 Bangladeshi adult residents to explore the issue. Results stated that face mask and hand gloves were the widely used PPE, where around 45.50% mask and 31.60% hand gloves were disposable. Approximately 94.50% of the participants percepted to use at least one type of PPE while going outside. Only 18.65% of the respondents percepted to burn the PPE-related waste, while most of them reported other less protective disposal measures. Females, urban residents, and participants with higher education were found to have better perception and attitudes toward PPE-related waste disposal. To the best of the authors' knowledge, being the first exploratory study in the country, the present findings are anticipated to be helpful at policy levels with respect to arranging awareness programs.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; PPE waste disposal; environmental health risk; environmental pollution; medical waste in Bangladesh; public attitudes and practices.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure showing the environmental and public health risk of improper disposal of personal protective equipment (PPE) and others healthcare wastes (2, 11).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) use and PPE-related waste disposal perception and attitudes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Singh N, Tang Y, Ogunseitan OA. Environmentally sustainable management of used personal protective equipment. Environ Sci Technol. (2020) 54:8500–2. 10.1021/acs.est.0c03022 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ma Y, Lin X, Wu A, Huang Q, Li X, Yan L. Suggested guidelines for emergency treatment of medical waste during COVID-19: Chinese experience. Waste Dispos Sustain Energy. (2020) 2:81–4. 10.1007/s42768-020-00039-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. HCWH . Health Care Waste Management and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (2020). Available online at: https://noharm-global.org/issues/global/healthcare-waste-management-and-... (accessed May 11, 2020).
    1. WHO . COVID-19 Bangladesh Situation Report - 28. (2020). Available online at: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/searo/bangladesh/covid-19-who-ba... (accessed September 9, 2020).
    1. DGHS Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and family welfare, Government of the people's Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka. (2020). Available online at: https://dghs.gov.bd/index.php/bd/publication/guideline (accessed July 21, 2020).