New shocking statistics on water and hygiene in hospitals around the world

Go to the hospital or clinic in a rich country, and take for granted that there will be enough drinking water: the doctor will wash his hands before taking care of you, the staff cleaning the floors and linens, and to drink when you are thirsty.

But in 17 countries, at least one health facility in five does not have a drinking water service.

This is just one of the many disturbing conclusions of a new report by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

These data, collected in 2016 from 69 low- and middle-income countries and territories, constitute the first comprehensive global badessment of water, sanitation and hygiene in health facilities, ranging from hospitals to rural clinics.

Here are five other takeaways:

• The problem is particularly common in Africa, but there are many variations on the continent. For example, in Namibia, only 1% of health facilities do not have water services, while in Liberia, more than half of facilities are without services. At the same time, several non-African countries also perform poorly, including Myanmar, where 27% of health care facilities do not have water services, and Peru, where it accounts for 18%.

• Soap is also in short supply. One of the six health facilities covered by the report does not have hand hygiene service, which means not only that there is no water or soap, nor any even alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

• And there is a serious lack of toilets. One in five health facilities, including almost one in ten hospitals, do not have toilets beyond rudimentary facilities such as pit latrines and bucket latrines. This means that more than 1.5 billion people are being treated in health facilities suffering from these conditions.

• Waste disposal is also a challenge. In 30 countries, more than half of health facilities do not have basic waste management services, which means that infectious waste is not treated and disposed of in a safe manner.

• All of this contributes to maternal and infant mortality. The report estimates that every year 17 million women in the world's poorest countries give birth in health centers where water, sanitation and hygiene are inadequate. This increases the risk of fatal infections in the mother and newborn.

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