What is BMW ?
Bio-medical waste means “any solid and/or liquid waste including its container and any intermediate product, which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or research activities pertaining thereto or in the production or testing of biological or in health camps.
Biomedical waste poses hazard due to two principal reasons – the first is infectivity and other toxicity.
The quantity of biomedical waste generated per bed per day will vary depending upon the type of health problems, the type of care provided and the hospital waste management practices. It varies from 1–2 kg in developing countries to 4.5 kg in developed countries such as USA.
Biomedical waste is generated from biological and medical sources and activities, such as the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of diseases. Common generators (or producers) of biomedical waste include hospitals, health clinics, nursing homes, emergency medical services, medical research laboratories, offices of physicians, dentists, veterinarians, home health care and morgues or funeral homes. In healthcare facilities (i.e. hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, veterinary hospitals and clinical laboratories), waste with these characteristics may alternatively be called medical or clinical waste.
