Awareness and Training in Biomedical Waste Management Among Medical Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic in India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Safe biomedical waste (BMW) management is essential for infection prevention, particularly during infectious disease outbreaks. This study assessed self-reported awareness, reported institutional BMW-management systems, and training among medical practitioners involved in COVID-19 care in India. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among 558 registered allopathic medical practitioners recruited through purposive, non-probability sampling between February and August 2022. Responses described participants’ status at the time of the survey. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s chi-square or generalized Fisher exact tests, and Cramér’s V with 95% confidence intervals. Results: Overall, 516 (92.5%) participants reported that their institution had an effective BMW-management system, 489 (87.6%) reported awareness of BMW-management procedures, and 378 (67.7%) reported previous training. Key bivariate associations included workplace with the reported institutional system (exact p < 0.001; Cramér’s V, 0.210; 95% CI, 0.144–0.263), age with individual awareness (p < 0.001; V, 0.181; 95% CI, 0.083–0.255), specialty with individual awareness (p < 0.001; V, 0.182; 95% CI, 0.085–0.257), and specialty with training (p < 0.001; V, 0.189; 95% CI, 0.093–0.264). These comparisons were unadjusted. Conclusions: Participants reported high awareness but incomplete training coverage. The observed demographic and professional differences were small-to-modest, unadjusted associations and should not be interpreted as causal or nationally representative. Periodic structured training and facility-level monitoring may support BMW-management practice.