Zambia WASH and IPC guidelines and SOPs (2018)

This document accompanies the Zambia minimum standards for WASH and IPC.

COVID-19 Waste management sourcebook

The COVID-19 Waste Management Sourcebook has been developed to supplement the existing DOH Health Care Waste Management Manual 4th Edition in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. This Sourcebook incorporates the Philippine policy issuances and guidelines developed in response to COVID-19 as well as relevant international standards.

WASH PRESS: Soluciones de agua, saneamiento e higiene y medidas de prevención y control de infecciones para la preparación y respuesta de los establecimientos de salud en casos de emergencias de salud y desastres

WASH PRESS focuses on providing technical solutions to meet the water, sanitation and hygiene needs of health facilities during health emergency and disaster preparedness activities or in resource-constrained contexts. The document is the result of a systematic review of numerous technical guidelines, practices and tools from the World Health Organization and other relevant institutions and universities in the sector. In a single tool, it combines the minimum standards and indicators to be met with technical solutions to achieve them, with an emphasis on what needs to be done (algorithms), how to do it (factsheets) and how much is needed (calculation tools). By publishing this document, the Pan American Health Organization aims to facilitate decision-making by those responsible for health facilities and for the planning and implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene measures, as well as immediate and timely action by health and auxiliary staff and, in general, by professionals in the sector. This publication complements the guidance provided in the WASH FIT Health Facility Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement Toolkit, developed by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund in 2018.

Country Progress Tracker

The WHO/UNICEF country tracker provides an overview of how countries are advancing the practical steps. Data collection is underway to provide an update of global progress against the 2023 United Nations General Assembly Resolution on WASH in health care facilities. The tracker is currently being updated and a report will be published mid-2025. WHO and UNICEF are grateful to countries for sharing an update of their progress.

WASH in HCF Evaluation and Reporting Tools

When assessing WASH in healthcare facility surveys, tasks such as cleaning and analyzing the data, and reporting back to facilities can be time-consuming and/or require unavailable expertise. This tool was created to address those tasks as part of The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development's initiative to evaluate WASH in 150 of its healthcare facilities and provide support. It has since been adapted so that others could use it for data analysis and reporting. These tools evaluate a quick WASH in healthcare facility survey (~45 minutes) to assess which facilities meet basic JMP standards, and create reports that highlight each facilities' Strengths, what issues could be addressed without additional funding (Minor Issues to Resolve), and what issues require additional funding to resolve (Major Issues to Resolve). These reports and the next steps document should be sent to each facility, and may also be helpful when seeking funding. These tools are available for both R and Excel, in both English and French. The R version automatically produces facility reports, and the Excel version provides all prompts that need to be pasted into the reports. The Excel version is recommended for organizations evaluating less healthcare facilities (e.g. <20), and the R version is recommended for organizations evaluating many facilities. Prior experience with R is not required. Descriptions of how to use the tools and what files are provided are in the intro tab for the Excel tool, and the file titled README Guide to Using the Tool.docx. If you have any questions about these tools, please contact stephenpathilton@gmail.com.

WASH FIT portal

This page includes a range of WASH FIT related resources and information. Further country examples are available by searching "WASH FIT" in the Resources page.

Eight practical steps to achieve universal access to quality care

Published in 2019 by WHO and UNICEF, the eight steps are a set of practical actions that countries should take in order to sustain WASH services and practices in a range of health care settings, from primary to tertiary facilities.

Vatican cardinal: Access to clean water must be a priority

Original article: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-cardinal-access-to-clean-water-must-be-a-priority Vatican City, Mar 25, 2021 / 12:00 pm MT (CNA).- It must be an international priority to ensure that everyone has access to clean, potable water. That... Read more »

Uganda: Amref Health Africa improves WASH at healthcare facilities to reduce maternal and child mortality

As part of Amref Health Africa’s broader initiative to reduce maternal and infant mortalities related to sepsis, multiple healthcare facilities were renovated. The provision of clean water, sanitation, hygiene, and placenta disposal has not only reduced mortality, but has encouraged the staff and increased the number of births from these facilities.

Uganda: IRC promotes collective action to promote WASH in healthcare facilities

IRC Uganda believes that driving universal access within partner districts is the right scale to model behavior, test approaches and identify solutions that deliver and maintain universal access to water, sanitation, and hygiene, leaving no one behind