WASH’ Nutrition

3. AT INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL (HEALTH Centres & SCHOOLS)
Jovana Dodos © ACF – Senegal, 2015
The provision of adequate water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities
serves to prevent infections and spread of disease, protect staff and patients,
and “uphold the dignity of vulnerable populations including pregnant women and
the disabled”. 164 The consequences of poor WASH services in health care
facilities are numerous. It has been estimated that 15% of patients develop
one or more health care-associated infections during a hospital stay. Among
new-borns, sepsis and other severe infections are major killers, estimated to
cause 430,000 deaths annually. The risks associated with sepsis are 34 times
greater in low resource settings. Lack of access to water and sanitation in
health care facilities may discourage women from giving birth in these facilities
or cause delays in care-seeking. 165
As vital and basic as they are, many health care facilities in low resource
settings have no WASH services, severely compromising the ability to provide
safe care and presenting serious health risks to both health care providers
and those seeking treatment. 166 That being the case, WASH’Nutrition strategy
calls for ensuring the WASH minimum package (see Chapter 3) in health and
nutrition centres so as to protect the “mother/caretaker-malnourished child”
from contracting infections and aggravating health and nutritional status.
In addition, WHO and UNICEF have developed a Global Action Plan on water,
sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities with the goal of ensuring “that
by 2030, every heath care facility, in every setting, has safely managed, reliable
water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and practices to meets staff and patient
needs in order to provide quality, safe people-centred care, with particular attention
to the needs of women, girls and children.” 167
Figure 21: Global coverage
of WASH in health care
facilitates
38%
do not have ANY
water source
19%
do not have improved
sanitation
35%
do not have water
and soap for
handwashing
Source: WHO (2015) “Delivering quality, peoplecentred
health care for all”
164 - WHO/UNICEF (2015) “Water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities: status in low- and middle-income countries and way forward”
165 - Ibid
166 - WHO/UNICEF (2015) “Water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities: status in low- and middle-income countries and way forward”
167 - WHO/UNICEF (2015) “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Health Care Facilities Global Action Plan”
WASH’Nutrition
A practical guidebook
95