Alarming! Half Of World's Healthcare Facilities Don't Have Basic Hygiene Services, Claims UN Report

The United Nations (UN) on August 30 revealed that half of the world's healthcare facilities do not have all basic hygiene services, which puts approximately four billion people at greater risk of infection.

All of these facilities do not have soap, water or any form of alcohol-based hand rub where patients receive care, and in their washrooms, as per the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) children's agency.

Lack Of Proper Hygiene

Approximately 3.85 billion people use these facilities, which puts them at risk of infection; that also includes 688 million individuals who receive care at facilities with no hygiene services, the UN agencies' Joint Monitoring Programme report claimed.

"Hygiene facilities and practices in healthcare settings are non-negotiable," WHO's Maria Neira was quoted as saying by NDTV.

The report revealed that the recently established global estimate, established on the statistics from 40 different nations, presents an "alarming picture" of the state of hygiene in health facilities.

It further added that 68 per cent of health care facilities had hygiene facilities at points of care, and nearly 65 per cent had handwashing available with soap and water in toilets.

Just 53% Of Facilities Have Access To Protected Water Source

However, just 51 per cent had both and therefore fulfilled the criteria for essential hygiene services. Meanwhile, only nine per cent of health care facilities globally have neither.

Furthermore, the report mentioned above also stated that the facilities in sub-Saharan Africa were lagging behind massively and only 37 per cent had handwashing facilities with soap and water in toilets.In the least developed nations, just 53 per cent of facilities had full access to a protected water source on site.

Globally, around three per cent of healthcare facilities in urban areas and 11 per cent in rural areas had no water service. The report also found that many facilities lacked basic environmental cleaning and safe segregation and disposal of healthcare waste.

The joint report is being launched at the World Water Week annual conference in Stockholm, which wraps up on Thursday.

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