"Imagine that you give birth in the medical center where there is no safe water supply, toilets or devices for washing of hands, or you bring the sick child there — the CEO of WHO Tedros Adkhan Gebreyesus told. — Such is daily reality for millions of people".
In two reports of WHO and UNICEF the situation with water supply and sanitation in healthcare institutions for the first time is considered, and their conclusions are unfavourable: from 20 to 25 percent of medical institutions are not equipped with the adequate water supply system or hygiene and sanitation, including lack of suitable toilets and wash basins. In many treatment and prevention facilities there are no elementary conditions for respect for hygiene of hands and safe sorting and utilization of medical waste.
In many treatment and prevention facilities there are no elementary conditions for respect for hygiene...
"Services of water supply, sanitation and hygiene in healthcare institutions — guarantee of prevention of infections and fight against them and also high-quality assistance. They have fundamental value for respect of advantage and the rights of each person who asks for medical care and also health workers" — the Secretary general of the United Nations Antoniu Guterrish said.
Authors of the report established that in the least developed countries basic water supply systems equipped only a half (55%) of medical institutions. According to estimates, every year 17 million women in these countries give birth in the medical institutions which do not have appropriate sanitary and hygienic conditions.
"When the child is born in medical institution without normal water supply, means of sanitation and hygiene, mother, and the child is threatened by serious risk of infection and death — Henriette Faure, the Executive director of UNICEF noted. — Each child has to be born in the clean room with the sterile equipment, and have to accept it the reliable, washed-up by water with soap hands".
WHO experts and UNICEF note that because of a lack of hygiene at childbirth more than one million women and children annually perish. 26 percent of cases of death of newborns and 11 percent - mothers are connected with infections.
Authors of the report "Practical steps" in detail describe eight measures which can accept the governments for improvement of a situation. These measures and, as a result, better services of water supply, sanitation and hygiene will allow to receive noticeable return from investments in the form of strengthening of health of mothers and newborns, prevention of stability to antimicrobial drugs, the termination of outbreaks of diseases and improvement of quality of the help.
"I urge all people to support actions for ensuring services of water supply, sanitation and hygiene in all healthcare institutions, - the UN Chief Antoniu Guterrish told. Achievement of the goals in the field of sustainable development in many respects depends on it".