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The World Health Organization warned on Monday that one in four health centers in the world lack water for hygiene and services, putting 1.8 billion people at risk of contracting the coronavirus .
In a study prepared jointly with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and based on data from 165 countries, the organization said the lack of these basic services in centers exposes patients and their workers at the risk of infection.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that “working in a health care facility without water, sanitation and hygiene is like sending nurses and doctors to work without medical equipment. Individual protection”.
He stressed that these elements are “essential to stop the spread of Covid-19, but there are still significant gaps that need to be overcome, especially in developing countries.”
While health workers make up no more than 3% of the world’s population, they make up 14% of people infected with Covid-19, according to WHO figures.
“Sending health workers and patients to facilities without clean water, safe toilets or soap is life threatening,” said Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF.
The study also found that one in three healthcare facilities worldwide do not guarantee the ability to wash their hands, while one in ten do not have a sanitation system.
As for the 47 least developed countries in the world, the figures are getting worse, with half of their health centers having no drinking water, a quarter lacking water for hygiene purposes and three in five do not without sanitation services.
The World Health Organization and UNICEF carried out calculations which concluded that the provision of basic water services in these health centers costs one dollar per person and 20 cents to maintain these facilities per year.
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