According to the WHO and Unicef, one in four health establishments in the world does not have access to water
Water point in a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan (illustration image).
About 1.8 billion people traveling to or working in health facilities without basic water services, warn World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
REUTERS / Muhammad Hamed
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
According to the World Health Organization, which issued the alert on Monday, December 14, one in four health establishments in the world is without water supply services.
Which exposes healthcare workers and patients to a higher risk of infection with Covid-19, says a report published jointly by the WHO and Unicef.
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Around 1.8 billion people go to or work in health facilities that lack basic water services, warn the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Fund for Children (Unicef) in a joint report based on data from 165 countries.
“
Working in a health facility without water, sanitation and hygiene is a bit like sending nurses and doctors to work without personal protective equipment
,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who recalls that "
the supply of water, sanitation and hygiene in health establishments are fundamental to stopping the Covid-19
".
14% of Covid-19 cases reported worldwide
According to the WHO, the proportion of healthcare professionals infected with Covid-19 is much higher than in the rest of the population: they represent less than 3% of the population, but account for 14% of the cases reported worldwide.
"
Sending health professionals and people in need of treatment to establishments without clean water, safe toilets, or even soap, puts their lives in danger
", also assures the general director of Unicef, Henrietta Fore .
According to the report, one in four health facilities in the world do not have water services, one in three do not provide adequate hand hygiene in the places where care is provided, and one in ten do not have no access to sanitation services, and one in three does not sort their waste safely.
The situation is most catastrophic in the 47 least developed countries (LDCs) of the planet: one in two health establishments does not have a basic drinking water supply service, one in four is not equipped with handwashing facilities where health care is provided and three out of five do not have access to basic sanitation services.
One dollar per capita
According to WHO and Unicef, the cost to set up water supply services in health facilities in 47 LDCs would amount to $ 1 per capita.
On average, operating and maintaining these services would require $ 0.20 per capita each year.
(
with AFP
)
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To read also: Vaccine against the Covid-19: the G20 countries called to supplement the WHO fund
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