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We Are Already Sick”

Infectious Waste Management and Inequality in the Time of Covid-19, a Reflection from Blantyre, Malawi

Bibliographic Data

ID13112005
AuthorsElizabeth Tilley (0000-0002-2095-9724, University of Malawi, corresponding author), Marc Kalina (0000-0002-6335-3845, Howard College, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume3
Issue1
Pages3-3
Publication date2020-06-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorldwide Waste (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2399-7117 • E-ISSN: 2399-7117
PublisherUbiquity Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.5334/wwwj.54
OpenAlexW3037654009
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited12

The efficient and sanitary management of infectious waste is an essential part of the humanitarian response to any disaster, including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, in many contexts within the Global South, waste management systems are poorly equipped to handle these waste streams during periods of normalcy, let alone during times of crisis. The purpose of this article is draw attention to a number of existing inequalities that define infectious waste management practices globally, with a critical eye to how they constrain poorer nations’ ability to respond and manage their own Covid-19 outbreaks. In particular, the work draws on the authors’ extensive research, experience, and activism at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, to understand how waste management practices will inform and react to mitigation efforts and to propose a number of practical steps that can be achieved in the short-term, as well as towards long-term structural transformation. Ultimately, this conversation is meant to contribute to a more inclusive and critical waste management studies discourse

Conversation · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Crisis management · Environmental planning · Geography · Infectious disease (medical specialty · Pandemic · Political science · Sociology · Work (physics · Engineering · Healthcare and Environmental Waste Management · Law · Medicine · Municipal Solid Waste Management

  • Environmental health practitioners

    Open Access•Tracy Morse, Kondwani Chidziwisano et al.•BMJ Global Health•2020

  • “It is unbearable to breathe here”

    Open Access•Elizabeth Tilley, Hope Chilunga et al.•Frontiers in Public Health•2023

  • Healthcare waste management for preparedness

    Open Access•Margot Rocheteau, Sarah Schiffling et al.•International Journal of Disaster…•2026

  • “We are from there, that’s our land”

    Open Access•Marc Kalina, Jonathan Kwangulero et al.•Local Environment•2022

  • As South Africa’s cities burn

    Open Access•Marc Kalina•Local Environment•2021

  • Absorbent hygiene products disposal behaviour in informal settlements

    Open Access•Jurgita Slekiene, Nick Swan et al.•BMC Public Health•2024

  • Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high level of Sars-CoV-2 lethality in Northern Italy?

    Open Access•Edoardo Conticini, Bruno Frediani et al.•Environmental Pollution•2020

  • Variation in Covid-19 Hospitalizations and Deaths Across New York City Boroughs

    Rishi K Wadhera, Priya Wadhera et al.•JAMA•2020

  • Capacity building for post disaster construction and demolition waste management

    Open Access•Gayani Karunasena, Dilanthi Amaratunga•Disaster Prevention and…•2016

Unique citing works6
Citations per year1
Citation span2020 - 2026 (7)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 6
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