WASH in health care facilities 2023 data update: special focus on primary health care.
The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) has released WASH in health care facilities 2023 data update: Special focus on primary health care. The update highlights the global, regional and national progress in WASH services across health care settings.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
The data update shows that despite progress, there are still significant gaps in WASH services worldwide. Data from 2023 indicate that around 742 million people had no water service in their health care facilities, 660 million lacked sanitation services and 722 million had no hygiene services. Fragile contexts, which include regions affected by conflict, economic instability, or environmental hazards, show some of the lowest coverage rates, with only 19% of health care facilities having basic sanitation services and just 37% with basic water services.
A key feature of this update is the focus on primary health care (PHC). The PHC approach emphasizes equitable access to essential health services, particularly in underserved communities. The update stresses that adopting a PHC approach is critical to improving WASH services and that WASH is integral to the success of PHC. It calls for countries to integrate WASH services within their health policies and practices to improve the quality and reach of health care for all.
This data update also showcases the progress made in gathering more comprehensive data. The number of countries with available data on basic WASH services has increased steadily, providing a clearer global picture. Nevertheless, the WHO and UNICEF call for continued efforts in data collection and service improvements to ensure safe and equitable WASH access in all health care facilities worldwide.
The JMP website, www.washdata.org, allows visitors to interactively access the full dataset, and download individual country files which include all of the data used to produce the estimates.
Explore the data on the interactive portal, and download Excel files showing regional snapshots.
Lead image courtesy of Front cover: © UNICEF/UN0643037/Jariwala
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