Gestão de resíduos sólidos de saúde nas UBS no município de Boa Vista - Roraima: impactos da migração venezuelana e pandemia da COVID-19

Abstract

The waste generated by man throughout his life makes natural ecosystems impossible to degrade at the speed necessary to avoid environmental impact. Non-degradable waste increases the need for environmental awareness, especially in the processes of generation and consumption. Among the various types of waste produced are waste from health services. Although they represent a small portion of total waste, they occupy a position of extreme importance for their ability to infect and contaminate the environment and human health. In the municipality of Boa Vista/RR it is possible to highlight two phenomena that may have impacted the RSS, the intensification of the flow of Venezuelan migrants and the COVID-19 pandemic, generating demand for outpatient care in the Basic Health Units (BHU) of the capital. This study aimed to analyze the management of solid health waste in three Basic Health Units in the municipality of Boa Vista/RR: São Vicente, Doctor Silvio Botelho and Professor Mariano de Andrade, from 2015 to 2022, according to current regulations. This is qualitative research to analyze the current situation of waste management in the BHU. Data collection was performed through on-site observations, with photographic records and complementary notes, in addition to semi-structured interviews guided by thematic scripts with 29 health professionals of different academic levels. Data analysis was performed through the description of the facts during the stages of the interviews and observations, the gender acting in the health units is predominantly female, there was a prevalence of professionals who attended graduate school. Regarding the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) among professionals, all consider it important in their professional practice, but used it more frequently during the pandemic. During this period there were 13 accidents, 12 with piercing-cutting materials and one with biological material, the most affected class were nursing professionals. Between 2019 and 2022, there was a significant impact on generation, an increase of 65.4% in 2022 compared to 2019. It should be noted that, according to the interviewees, the BHU do not have a Solid Health Waste Management Plan (SHWMP), although the interviewees are graduates, they present a lack of knowledge, or superficial knowledge in relation to the subject "waste from health services", which points to knowledge gaps in the process of their academic training. Among the BHU studied, there are nonconformities in all stages (segregation, packaging, identification, internal transport, temporary storage, treatment and external storage). It can be concluded that, there was an impact on the generation of waste from health services (WHS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health professionals are unaware of the classification of waste, the lack of supervision and non-compliance in relation to the stages of the management of the WHS, as recommended by RDC No. 222/2018. In relation to the containers, it is important to standardize and replace the damaged ones. It is necessary to train and train qualified health professionals who are aware of the handling of the waste generated, in order to form critical citizens, with more ethical postures and committed to socio-environmental sustainability.