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- Almost four billion people are at risk of contracting infections, as half the world's healthcare facilities do not have basic hygiene services.
- 688 million people use facilities which have no hygiene services at all.
- Nine percent of clinics and hospitals have neither hygiene facilities at points of care, nor handwashing facilities with water and soap at toilets.
Half of the world's healthcare facilities lack basic hygiene services, putting nearly four billion people at greater risk of infection, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
These facilities do not have water and soap or alcohol-based hand rub where patients receive care, and in their toilets, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UNICEF children's agency.
Around 3.85 billion people use these facilities, putting them at greater risk of infection, including 688 million people who receive care at facilities with no hygiene services at all, the UN agencies said in their Joint Monitoring Programme report.
"Hygiene facilities and practices in healthcare settings are non-negotiable," said the WHO's Maria Neira.
Neira said:
The newly established global estimate, based on data from 40 countries, presents an "alarming picture" of the state of hygiene in health facilities, the report said.
It said 68 percent of health care facilities had hygiene facilities at points of care, and 65 percent had handwashing facilities with water and soap at toilets.
However, only 51 percent had both, and therefore met the criteria for basic hygiene services.
Furthermore, nine percent of health care facilities globally have neither.
"If health care providers don't have access to a hygiene service, patients don't have a healthcare facility," said UNICEF's Kelly Ann Naylor.
Naylor added:
The report said facilities in sub-Saharan Africa were lagging, with only 37 percent having handwashing facilities with soap and water at toilets.
In the least developed countries, only 53 percent of facilities had access to a protected water source on site.
Globally, around three percent of healthcare facilities in urban areas and 11 percent in rural areas had no water service.
The report also found that many facilities lacked basic environmental cleaning and safe segregation and disposal of healthcare waste.
The joint report is being launched at the World Water Week annual conference in Stockholm, which wraps up on Thursday.
