Fully functioning water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and health care waste management services are a critical aspect of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, and ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Such services are also essential for creating an environment that supports the dig...nity and human rights of all care seekers, especially mothers, newborns, children and care providers.
WASH and waste services are also critical for preventing and effectively responding to disease outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in these basic services (Box 1). These gaps threaten the safety of patients and caregivers, and have environmental consequences, especially as a result of large increases in plastic health care waste. In short, WASH is a critical foundation for improving quality across the health system (1).
Many facilities lack plans and budgets for WASH, which has impacts on IPC. This lack of services, and of systems to improve them, compromises the ability to provide safe and quality care, and places health care providers and those seeking care at substantial risk of infection and loss of dignity. Unhygienic health care facilities without drinking water or functional toilets are also a disincentive to seeking care and undermine staff morale – these factors can have a critical impact on controlling infectious disease outbreaks.
Climate change and its impacts on WASH and health services, gender-specific needs, and equity in service provision and management all require rigorous attention, adaptable tools and regular monitoring.
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“The children are psychologically crushed and tired.
When we do activities like singing with them, they
don’t respond at all. They don’t laugh like they
would normally. They draw images of children
being butchered in the war, or tanks, or the siege
and the lack of food.”
Teacher in the... besieged town of Madaya to Save the Children
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International Perspectives and Future Directions
Frontiers in Public Health | www.frontiersin.org 1 June 2017 | Volume 5 | Article 127
Assessment in action series
Key Findings from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine
Writing by Katya Burns
Editing by Paul Silva and Roxanne Saucier
Tokar et al. Health Research Policy and Systems (2019) 17:23 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-019-0415-4
Schweizerische Fachgesellschaft für Tropen‐ und Reisemedizin FMH
This toolkit will help you to plan and run an event that helps to change the way that people in your community think about, and behave towards, people with mental health problems
A survival guide for clinicans.
3rd edition.