Half of world’s health facilities lack basic hygiene, 4 billion people at risk

Half of the world's healthcare facilities lack basic hygiene services, putting nearly 4 billion people at greater risk of infection, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

These facilities do not have water and soap or alcohol-based hand rub where patients receive care, and in their toilets, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UNICEF children's agency.

Around 3.85 billion people use these facilities, putting them at greater risk of infection, including 688 million people who receive care at facilities with no hygiene services at all, the UN agencies said in their Joint Monitoring Programme report.

"Hygiene facilities and practices in healthcare settings are non-negotiable," said the WHO's Maria Neira.

"Their improvement is essential to pandemic recovery, prevention and preparedness.

"Hygiene in healthcare facilities cannot be secured without increasing investments in basic measures, which include safe water, clean toilets, and safely managed health care waste."

The newly established global estimate, based on data from 40 countries and regions, presents an "alarming picture" of the state of hygiene in health facilities, the report said.

It said 68 percent of healthcare facilities had hygiene facilities at points of care, and 65 percent had handwashing facilities with water and soap at toilets.

However, only 51 percent had both, and therefore met the criteria for basic hygiene services.

Furthermore, 9 percent of healthcare facilities globally have neither.

The report said facilities in sub-­Saharan Africa were lagging, with only 37 percent having handwashing facilities with soap and water at toilets.

In the least-developed countries, only 53 percent of facilities had access to a protected water source on site.

Globally, around 3 percent of healthcare facilities in urban areas and 11 ­percent 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.