Many healthcare facilities in Ghana still face significant water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) challenges despite the progress made.
Some of the challenges are insufficient access to safe, reliable water sources, inadequate toilet facilities, including water supply, sanitation facilities, waste management and hygiene practices.
The Director, Public Health Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, who disclosed this, said healthcare-associated infections remained a significant concern and the healthcare sector in Ghana faced funding constraints.
Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said this on behalf of the Director General of the GHS, Professor Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, at a WASH advocacy event organised by the GHS yesterday, May 6, on the theme: “Enhancing WASH in healthcare facilities ".
The event sought to, among others, promote the understanding of key barriers of WASH in health facilities, learn best practices and also mobilise assets for scaling up WASH in health facilities.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that improved WASH in healthcare facilities can save up to 1.4 million lives annually, primarily from the prevention of maternal and neonatal sepsis-related deaths, which is a major contribution to hospital-associated infections.
Strides
Despite the challenges, Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said Ghana had made great strides in increasing coverage of WASH in healthcare facilities, pointing out that the proportion of health facilities with basic water services had increased from 48 per cent in 2018 to 67 per cent in 2021.
Participants during the event
Furthermore, he said more than half of healthcare facilities, that is 62 per cent, had basic hygiene facilities and 51 health facilities had basic waste management services.
Highlighting the importance of WASH in health facilities, Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said adequate WASH services led to fewer healthcare-associated infections, shorter hospital stays and improved patient well-being.
Improved WASH in healthcare facilities reduces healthcare costs associated with treating preventable infections.
WASH in health care is a human right, a cornerstone of quality healthcare, and a crucial element in achieving Sustainable Development Goal Three on good health and well-being,” he added.
The public health expert stated that women faced serious challenges during childbirth in the absence of safe WASH services. In some health facilities, nurses and midwives also share the burden, as pregnant women and new mothers are often forced to walk long distances in search of clean water to meet their sanitation and hygiene needs.
In a nine-point call to action, Dr Asiedu-Bekoe called on all stakeholders to, among others, prioritise WASH infrastructure, strengthen infection control practices, promote a culture of safety, advocate stronger policies and legislation that prioritise WASH in healthcare facilities and increased funding for WASH in healthcare facilities.
Global
The Technical Lead, Quality and Safety of WHO, Dr Angela Ackon, said globally, 1.7 billion people, representing 25 per cent, lacked access to basic water services in healthcare facilities while 780 million, representing 10 per cent, used health facilities without toilets and 50 per cent lacked basic hand hygiene at the point of use and toilets.
Dr Ackon, who spoke on behalf of the WHO Country Representative, said the poorest and most vulnerable countries and population had the least access to WASH in healthcare facilities, citing as example the fact that 43 per cent of newborn deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, where only half of health facilities had a water source on site.
Recounting personal experiences, Professor Titus Beyuo, a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, said a few times as a surgeon, he had to struggle to use insanitary water to wash his hands before operating, adding that because of that he would be the first person to advocate for the availability of WASH in healthcare facilities.
A director of the GHS, Dr Lawrence Ofori-Boadu, said the issue of WASH in healthcare facilities was very critical and the impact enormous.
There were statements from partners who provided support for the programme, namely, UNICEF Ghana, PATH, WaterAid and the National Development Planning Commission.
