2019-01-22 WHPA statement on 6.6 Water sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities

WHO Executive Board 144
Joint Intervention on Item 6.6 Water, sanitation and hygiene
in health care facilities
I am speaking on behalf of FDI World Dental Federation, supported by the World Health
Professions Alliance (WHPA), representing over 31 million nurses, pharmacists, physical
therapists, dentists, and physicians in over 130 countries.
We thank the Secretariat for its report which highlights that many Member States are failing to
prioritise and most importantly fund access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.
As health care professionals (HCPs) we understand and witness the impact of sub-optimal
hygiene and the scarcity of water and sanitation equipment on patients, families and providers.
Our professions have the duty to “do no harm” and this is sometimes impossible to uphold
without adequate WASH services. We would like to stress that this is both a patient safety issue
and an issue that affects the work environments and the health and wellbeing of our workforce.
We are extremely concerned by the Secretariat’s statement in Clause 1 of its report that WASH
in primary health care facilities are even less available than in other service areas. Since a
strong PHC system is the tool to achieve UHC, investing in PHC must include investing in
WASH.
In many health care facilities HCPs are working with limited material resources, are understaffed
and working in dangerous conditions. Additionally, not all people working in the facilities are
aware of essential hygiene requirements, how to implement it and of how it contributes to patient
safety and quality care. As such, WASH is often not prioritised.
We urge governments to allocate resources to develop, implement and monitor WASH
standards, incentivise facility leaders to implement these standards and offer continuing
development and training for HCPs. The five moments of hand hygiene should be widely
adopted into training. Training should also include information on how to secure WASH during
and after disasters or emergencies.