At the microbiology laboratory of a medical college in Karnataka, a technician has to discard culture plates and stock cultures of Salmonella Typhi at the end of the week. What do the BMW Rules, 2016 require for this waste?

Pre-treatment on site, then the yellow bag for incineration

Direct disposal in the yellow bag without pre-treatment

Deep burial within the hospital campus

Direct disposal in the red bag for recycling

Health care delivery, Ayushman Bharat and biomedical waste

22 NEET-PG practice questions on Health care delivery, Ayushman Bharat and biomedical waste, part of Community Medicine. The first 22 are below; the first 5 with answers and explanations (tap Show answer after you have chosen), the rest in Learn with a free account.

Question 1 · Easy
At a CHC in Rajasthan, the yellow-bag biomedical waste is collected by a common biomedical waste treatment facility. The hospital administrator asks how long untreated biomedical waste may normally be stored on the premises. What is the limit under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016?
1. AOne week
2. B96 hours
3. C48 hours
4. D24 hours
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Answer: C · 48 hours
The rules say untreated biomedical waste must not be stored beyond 48 hours. If storage beyond this becomes unavoidable, the occupier must take measures so that the waste does not harm health or the environment and must inform the prescribed authority. Waste is kept in a secure, marked storage area away from patient areas until it is treated on site or handed over to the common treatment facility. Each bag and container carries a bar code so that it can be tracked.
- A: Seven days is far beyond the limit for untreated waste.
- B: 72 hours is longer than the rules allow.
- D: 24 hours is shorter than the limit in the rules.
Question 2 · Medium
In 1978, an international conference called for health for all through primary health care. A PHC medical officer in Maharashtra controls a dengue outbreak by working with the gram panchayat on water storage, the school on larval source reduction and the municipal sanitation department on drains. Which principle of primary health care is she applying?
1. AEquitable distribution
2. BCommunity participation
3. CAppropriate technology
4. DIntersectoral coordination
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Answer: D · Intersectoral coordination
The Alma-Ata Declaration (1978) set four principles of primary health care: equitable distribution, community participation, intersectoral coordination and appropriate technology. Bringing together other sectors, such as local government, education and sanitation, whose work affects health is intersectoral coordination. Dengue control depends heavily on it, because breeding sites are in homes, schools and drains outside the health department's control. Community participation means people themselves planning and acting for their health, as when residents run source-reduction drives.
- A: Equitable distribution concerns fair access to services for all groups.
- B: Community participation is people's own involvement, not other departments'.
- C: Appropriate technology concerns methods that are affordable and acceptable.
Question 3 · Medium
At the microbiology laboratory of a medical college in Karnataka, a technician has to discard culture plates and stock cultures of Salmonella Typhi at the end of the week. What do the BMW Rules, 2016 require for this waste?
1. ADirect disposal in the yellow bag without pre-treatment
2. BDeep burial within the hospital campus
3. CPre-treatment on site, then the yellow bag for incineration
4. DDirect disposal in the red bag for recycling
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Answer: C · Pre-treatment on site, then the yellow bag for incineration
Microbiology and other laboratory waste, such as cultures, stocks of micro-organisms, culture plates and blood bags, is in the yellow category but must first be pre-treated on site, by sterilisation or disinfection as per WHO or NACO guidance, before it leaves the laboratory. After pre-treatment it is sent in yellow bags for incineration. Pre-treatment protects waste handlers and the public from live high-concentration cultures in transit. Red bags take recyclable contaminated plastics, not cultures.
- A: Cultures must be pre-treated on site before they leave the laboratory.
- B: Deep burial is allowed only for some anatomical waste in remote areas.
- D: Red bags are for recyclable plastics, not live cultures.
Question 4 · Medium
In the day-care chemotherapy unit of a district hospital in Kerala, a nurse finishes giving cyclophosphamide and is left with a partly used glass vial and the infusion set. Into which category should the cytotoxic vial be placed?
1. ARed bag for recycling
2. BBlue box for glassware
3. CWhite sharps container
4. DYellow bag for incineration
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Answer: D · Yellow bag for incineration
The BMW Rules place cytotoxic drugs, and all items contaminated with them, including glass and plastic vials and ampoules, in the yellow category. This waste is returned to the manufacturer or supplier, or incinerated at the high temperature specified for cytotoxic waste. Glassware normally goes into the blue box, but the rules exclude glass contaminated with cytotoxic drugs from that category. Cytotoxic waste must never be recycled or sent to a landfill.
- A: Recycling cytotoxic-contaminated items is not allowed.
- B: The blue category excludes vials contaminated with cytotoxic drugs.
- C: The white container is for sharps such as needles and blades.
Question 5 · Hard
A family of six in Assam is covered by AB PM-JAY. In April, the father has a coronary bypass costing Rs 3.2 lakh at an empanelled hospital; in November of the same policy year, his daughter needs surgery costing Rs 2.5 lakh under PM-JAY packages. No member is 70 or older. How much of the daughter's surgery can the scheme pay?
1. ARs 5 lakh
2. BNothing
3. CRs 2.5 lakh
4. DRs 1.8 lakh
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Answer: D · Rs 1.8 lakh
PM-JAY cover is on a family floater basis: Rs 5 lakh a year is shared by all members of the family, not given to each person. After the father's bypass, Rs 5 lakh - Rs 3.2 lakh = Rs 1.8 lakh is left for the rest of the year, so the scheme can pay Rs 1.8 lakh of the daughter's surgery. The cover is renewed each policy year. Treating Rs 5 lakh as per person, or thinking one claim uses up the cover, gives the wrong answers.
- A: Rs 5 lakh ignores the amount already used and the package cost.
- B: The cover is not exhausted by one claim; Rs 1.8 lakh remains.
- C: Rs 2.5 lakh treats the cover as individual, not shared by the family.
Question 6 · Easy
At a routine immunisation session at a sub-centre in Kerala, the ANM gives a pentavalent injection and cuts the needle off the auto-disable syringe with a hub cutter. In which container should the cut needles be collected?
1. ABlue cardboard box with blue marking
2. BYellow plastic bag for incineration
3. CRed plastic bag for recycling
4. DWhite translucent puncture-proof container
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 7 · Medium
A 32-year-old woman with no complaints comes to an Ayushman Arogya Mandir in Madhya Pradesh after the ASHA fills in her community-based assessment checklist. Under population-based screening for common non-communicable diseases, which screening should she be offered?
1. AHypertension, diabetes and lung cancer
2. BBreast and cervical cancer only
3. CHypertension and diabetes only
4. DHypertension, diabetes, and oral, breast and cervical cancer
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 8 · Medium
A 40-year-old daily-wage worker covered by AB PM-JAY has an appendicectomy at an empanelled hospital in Lucknow and is discharged after three days. Ten days later he needs a follow-up visit and medicines related to the surgery. Are these costs covered?
1. ANo, cover ends on the day of discharge
2. BNo, follow-up is covered only by state schemes
3. CYes, but only if he is readmitted
4. DYes, post-discharge costs are covered for 15 days
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 9 · Medium
A sub-centre in Punjab has an ANM (female health worker) and a male multipurpose health worker who both work across all national programmes rather than for a single disease. The idea of replacing single-purpose workers with such multipurpose workers came from which committee?
1. AKartar Singh Committee
2. BJungalwalla Committee
3. CBhore Committee
4. DMudaliar Committee
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 10 · Medium
A 74-year-old retired schoolteacher in Pune, whose family is not in the SECC-based PM-JAY beneficiary list and who has no private insurance, needs a hip replacement after a fall. Her son asks whether Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY can help. What is the correct advice?
1. AShe is eligible only if her pension is below a set limit
2. BShe is eligible through the Ayushman Vay Vandana card
3. CShe is eligible only for outpatient care at an AAM
4. DShe is not eligible as her family is not on the SECC list
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 11 · Medium
At an Ayushman Arogya Mandir in a remote village in Uttarakhand, the Community Health Officer wants a dermatologist's opinion on a child's persistent rash. The nearest specialist is at the district hospital 90 km away. Which national platform should she use for a doctor-to-doctor teleconsultation?
1. AMera Aspataal
2. BNikshay
3. CeSanjeevani
4. DU-WIN
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 12 · Medium
At a sub-centre in Gujarat, the ANM gives an intramuscular injection with a disposable syringe, cuts the needle with a hub cutter and is left with the plastic syringe body. Where should the syringe body go?
1. ABlue puncture-proof box
2. BRed non-chlorinated plastic bag
3. CYellow non-chlorinated plastic bag
4. DWhite puncture-proof container
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 13 · Medium
A district in Odisha wants to designate a facility as a First Referral Unit to reduce maternal deaths. Which facility qualifies?
1. AA CHC that offers caesarean section and blood storage round the clock
2. BA sub-centre with a skilled birth attendant
3. CA PHC that conducts normal deliveries round the clock
4. DA CHC with an outpatient obstetrician on weekdays
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 14 · Medium
A district hospital in Haryana sends its red-bag waste (IV sets, urine bags, catheters and syringes without needles) to a common biomedical waste treatment facility. How should this waste be treated?
1. AAutoclaving or microwaving, then shredding and recycling
2. BIncineration at a high temperature
3. CDeep burial in a lined pit
4. DChemical disinfection, then landfilling
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 15 · Easy
A newly posted block medical officer in a tribal block of Chhattisgarh is planning where new sub-centres are needed. Under the population norms for health facilities, what population should one sub-centre serve in a tribal or hilly area?
1. A10,000
2. B1,000
3. C5,000
4. D3,000
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 16 · Medium
After a normal delivery in the labour room of a PHC in Tamil Nadu, the staff nurse sorts the waste. The medical officer checks four of her choices: 1. Placenta in the yellow bag. 2. Blood-soaked gauze in the red bag. 3. Broken glass oxytocin ampoules in the blue box. 4. Used gloves in the red bag. Which choices are correct?
1. A1, 2, 3 and 4
2. B1 and 3 only
3. C3 and 4 only
4. D1, 3 and 4 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 17 · Medium
At a PHC in Bihar, the medical officer explains Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY to a family of nine who have just received their Ayushman cards. He makes four statements: 1. The family gets cover of up to Rs 5 lakh a year for hospitalisation. 2. Outpatient consultations at private clinics are paid for by the scheme. 3. All nine members are covered, as there is no cap on family size. 4. Diseases the members already have are covered from the first day. Which statements are correct?
1. A3 and 4 only
2. B1, 2 and 4 only
3. C1, 2, 3 and 4
4. D1, 3 and 4 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 18 · Medium
A sub-centre in Andhra Pradesh has been upgraded to an Ayushman Arogya Mandir (Health and Wellness Centre). Its team now includes a new member trained through a bridge course in community health, who runs the centre, manages common illnesses by protocol and dispenses medicines. Who is this team leader?
1. AMultipurpose Health Worker (Male)
2. BAuxiliary Nurse Midwife
3. CLady Health Visitor
4. DCommunity Health Officer
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 19 · Hard
At a sub-centre Ayushman Arogya Mandir in Rajasthan, a 50-year-old man screened by the Community Health Officer has BP readings of 168/102 and 164/100 mm Hg on two occasions a week apart. He has no symptoms and no other illness. Under the national NCD programme, what should the CHO do next?
1. ARefer him to the district hospital cardiologist
2. BRefer to the PHC medical officer to confirm and start treatment
3. CAdvise lifestyle change alone and rescreen in a year
4. DStart amlodipine herself and review in a year
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 20 · Hard
A newly formed tribal district in Jharkhand has a rural population of 2,40,000, all living in tribal areas. Using the population norms for rural health facilities, how many sub-centres, PHCs and CHCs are needed?
1. A48 sub-centres, 8 PHCs and 2 CHCs
2. B80 sub-centres, 8 PHCs and 2 CHCs
3. C80 sub-centres, 12 PHCs and 3 CHCs
4. D48 sub-centres, 12 PHCs and 3 CHCs
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 21 · Hard
The common biomedical waste treatment facility serving a CHC in Bihar cannot collect waste for five days because floods have cut the road. The yellow and red bags are filling the storage room. What should the CHC administrator do?
1. ABurn the waste in an open pit behind the CHC
2. BStore safely and inform the prescribed authority
3. CBury all the waste in the CHC compound
4. DHand the waste to the municipal garbage van
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 22 · Easy
A village of 2,000 people in the plains of Uttar Pradesh has one ASHA. The block programme manager wants to follow the National Health Mission norm for ASHAs. How many ASHAs should this village have?
1. ATen ASHAs
2. BTwo ASHAs
3. COne ASHA
4. DFour ASHAs
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account

Health care delivery, Ayushman Bharat and biomedical waste

At a CHC in Rajasthan, the yellow-bag biomedical waste is collected by a common biomedical waste treatment facility. The hospital administrator asks how long untreated biomedical waste may normally be stored on the premises. What is the limit under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016?

At the microbiology laboratory of a medical college in Karnataka, a technician has to discard culture plates and stock cultures of Salmonella Typhi at the end of the week. What do the BMW Rules, 2016 require for this waste?

In the day-care chemotherapy unit of a district hospital in Kerala, a nurse finishes giving cyclophosphamide and is left with a partly used glass vial and the infusion set. Into which category should the cytotoxic vial be placed?

At a routine immunisation session at a sub-centre in Kerala, the ANM gives a pentavalent injection and cuts the needle off the auto-disable syringe with a hub cutter. In which container should the cut needles be collected?

A 32-year-old woman with no complaints comes to an Ayushman Arogya Mandir in Madhya Pradesh after the ASHA fills in her community-based assessment checklist. Under population-based screening for common non-communicable diseases, which screening should she be offered?

A 40-year-old daily-wage worker covered by AB PM-JAY has an appendicectomy at an empanelled hospital in Lucknow and is discharged after three days. Ten days later he needs a follow-up visit and medicines related to the surgery. Are these costs covered?

A sub-centre in Punjab has an ANM (female health worker) and a male multipurpose health worker who both work across all national programmes rather than for a single disease. The idea of replacing single-purpose workers with such multipurpose workers came from which committee?

A 74-year-old retired schoolteacher in Pune, whose family is not in the SECC-based PM-JAY beneficiary list and who has no private insurance, needs a hip replacement after a fall. Her son asks whether Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY can help. What is the correct advice?

At an Ayushman Arogya Mandir in a remote village in Uttarakhand, the Community Health Officer wants a dermatologist's opinion on a child's persistent rash. The nearest specialist is at the district hospital 90 km away. Which national platform should she use for a doctor-to-doctor teleconsultation?

At a sub-centre in Gujarat, the ANM gives an intramuscular injection with a disposable syringe, cuts the needle with a hub cutter and is left with the plastic syringe body. Where should the syringe body go?

A district in Odisha wants to designate a facility as a First Referral Unit to reduce maternal deaths. Which facility qualifies?

A district hospital in Haryana sends its red-bag waste (IV sets, urine bags, catheters and syringes without needles) to a common biomedical waste treatment facility. How should this waste be treated?

A newly posted block medical officer in a tribal block of Chhattisgarh is planning where new sub-centres are needed. Under the population norms for health facilities, what population should one sub-centre serve in a tribal or hilly area?

At a sub-centre Ayushman Arogya Mandir in Rajasthan, a 50-year-old man screened by the Community Health Officer has BP readings of 168/102 and 164/100 mm Hg on two occasions a week apart. He has no symptoms and no other illness. Under the national NCD programme, what should the CHO do next?

A newly formed tribal district in Jharkhand has a rural population of 2,40,000, all living in tribal areas. Using the population norms for rural health facilities, how many sub-centres, PHCs and CHCs are needed?

The common biomedical waste treatment facility serving a CHC in Bihar cannot collect waste for five days because floods have cut the road. The yellow and red bags are filling the storage room. What should the CHC administrator do?

A village of 2,000 people in the plains of Uttar Pradesh has one ASHA. The block programme manager wants to follow the National Health Mission norm for ASHAs. How many ASHAs should this village have?