Incinerator Technology, Operational Performance and Healthcare-Facility Hierarchy in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The study aim examined which incinerator technology, operational performances are in use at government healthcare facilities in Kano Metropolis and whether incinerator category tracks hospital tier. Nine facilities spanning primary, secondary and tertiary care were purposively sampled. Data came from a structured questionnaire (131 valid responses) and direct observation at each site. Brick or locally fabricated incinerators accounted for 73.28% of responses, single-chamber units for 16.03%, and double-chamber or high-technology systems for the remaining 10.69%. Hospital tier and reported incinerator category were significantly associated at the individual-response level (χ² = 34.75, df = 4, p < .0001, Cramer's V = 0.364; Spearman's ρ = 0.375, p < .0001), although the 131 responses were nested within nine facilities and the result is therefore treated as descriptive rather than as a stand-alone facility-level test. The research relies primarily on the facility-level pattern and on direct observation. Site visits confirmed that double-chamber units were concentrated in tertiary facilities, brick/local units predominated elsewhere, but also surfaced a functional-operational paradox: three of the nine facilities had incinerators out of service for technical repair at the time of observation, including MMSH, the highest-volume facility in the sample by both patient turnout and waste generation. The findings describe a pattern of structured heterogeneity in which incinerator technology tracks hospital tier, while operational capacity remains uneven across and within tiers. The results offer exploratory, facility-level evidence for tier-differentiated design, maintenance and monitoring standards.