Chapter 5: Preventing infection
Make a box to dispose of needles safely
Find a metal or hard plastic box. Make a long
hole in the lid of the box that is wide on one
side and gets narrower on the other side.
When you have finished using a
disposable syringe, put the needle
into the box and slide it down to
the narrowest point.
Then pull up on the syringe
and the needle will fall off into
the box. The plastic syringe can
be sterilized and thrown into a
waste pit (see below).
When the box is half full, pour 5% bleach solution into the box, seal it
closed, and then bury it deep in the ground.
Other wastes
Other wastes, like plastic gloves, syringe barrels, or cloth soaked in blood, should
be sterilized and then buried deep in the ground. You can sterilize them by
soaking them in bleach for 20 minutes.
WARNING! Do not burn plastic gloves, syringes, or any
other plastics. Burning plastic wastes is dangerous — when
plastic burns, it makes smoke and ash that is very poisonous.
Burying wastes
Find a place away from where people get their
drinking water and away from where children
play. Dig a safe waste pit to bury wastes.
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A Book for Midwives (2010)