Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Volume 93, Number 4, April 2015, 209-284
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/93/4/en/

Editorials
Lack of toilets and safe water in health-care facilities
Jamie Bartram a, Ryan Cronk a, Maggie Montgomery b, Bruce Gordon b, Maria Neira b, Edward Kelley c & Yael Velleman d
a. Water Institute and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, United States of America.
b. Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
c. Department of Service Delivery and Safety, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
d. WaterAid, London, England.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2015;93:210. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.15.154609
[Initial text]
In March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a report1 on the status of water and sanitation in health-care facilities from 54 low- and middle-income countries. Data representing 66 000 health facilities show that water was not readily available in about 40%.1 Over a third of facilities lacked soap for hand washing and a fifth lacked toilets. In many countries, in facilities where water is available, there is no guarantee that it is safe for consumption.2
This is a major embarrassment for the health sector: health facilities serve as foci for infection and patients seeking treatment fall ill and may die, for the lack of the most basic requirements for good hygiene – safe, reliable water supplies and adequate sanitation…