Recent reports by World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have highlighted a significant global health concern – half of the world’s healthcare facilities lack basic hygiene services. Consequently, an alarming 3.85 billion people are at an increased risk of infection. This revelation, disclosed in their latest Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), became public knowledge during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Dire State of Global Healthcare Facilities
According to the JMP report, basic hygiene services including water, soap, or alcohol-based hand rubs are unavailable in half of the world’s healthcare facilities. This puts billions of people at an increased risk of infections. It also reveals that only 51% of healthcare facilities meet the requirements for basic hygiene services. Whilst 68% of these facilities provide handwashing facilities with water and soap at restrooms, and 65% at points of care, shockingly only one in 11 medical facilities worldwide offer both.
Impact on Vulnerable Populations
The lack of safe water and basic hygiene and sanitation services in hospitals and clinics poses a grave threat to pregnant mothers, newborns, and children. This deficiency contributes significantly to the annual loss of 670,000 newborns to sepsis, a severe condition triggered by the body’s response to an infection damaging its tissues.
Unhygienic Conditions and Increased Disease Transmission
The JMP report further emphasizes that unhygienic hands and environment play a key role in disease transmission in healthcare facilities and the emergence of antibiotic resistance. It calls attention to the fact that only 53% of healthcare institutions in the least developed countries have access to a safe water supply. This number stands at 90% for eastern and south-eastern Asia, with hospitals performing better than smaller healthcare facilities. In a startling revelation, the report states that 11% of rural and 3% of urban healthcare institutions lack access to water.
The Crucial Role of Hygiene Facilities
The JMP emphasizes the indispensability of hygiene facilities and practices in health care settings. It claims their improvement is crucial to pandemic recovery, prevention, and preparedness. Access to handwashing with water and soap and cleaning is therefore essential for providing high-quality health care, particularly safe deliveries.
Strategies for Improvement
Given the uneven coverage of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities across different regions and income groups, it becomes imperative for countries to action their 2019 World Health Assembly commitment to strengthen WASH services in health care facilities.
Indian Government Initiatives on WASH
India has focused considerable efforts on improving WASH facilities in the country. A case in point is the Swachh Bharat initiative, aimed at reducing open defecation in India. From 2018 to 2019, the percentage of households with access to toilets skyrocketed from 77% to 93%.
Meanwhile, India’s national water mission expanded in 2017-2018 to form the National Rural Drinking Water Mission (NRDWM). The objective is to provide piped water supplies to rural households. At the same time, organizations like USAID and UNICEF are cooperating with the Government of India to boost access to safe drinking water, enhance household toilets availability, and reduce public defecation.
Next Steps to Ensure Hygiene in Healthcare Facilities
It is of utmost importance to ramp up investments in basic measures like safe water, clean toilets, and proper healthcare waste management to ensure hygiene in healthcare facilities. UNICEF also advocates demand creation in communities where open defecation is still commonplace, improving the supply of sanitation products and services where unimproved latrines are prevalent, and fostering innovative financing solutions in communities with high basic sanitation coverage, but where some households remain unreached.
Case Study: Bio-toilet Initiative by Indian Railways
Indian Railways’ bio-toilet project exemplifies the country’s commitment to enhancing hygiene standards. With an innovative and indigenous technology, the project uses anaerobic bacteria to convert human waste into water and bio-gases like Methane and Ammonia. The gases are released into the atmosphere while the waste water, after chlorination, is discharged onto the tracks. This technology has considerably improved cleanliness and hygiene at platforms, and facilitated maintenance staff performance.
