Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation Jan -Feb 2014 Vol.10 No1 | Page 10

NEWS in brief
Campaigning for better WASH in health care
facilities
By Cor Dietvorst
WHO is launching a global plan of action to improve
access to WASH at all health care facilities. This kind of
intersectoral collaboration is set to become a major theme
in the post-2015 development agenda.
Better access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in
health care facilities is crucial for mothers and babies to
stay healthy. It is just as important as curative measures
says Dr Maria Neira, the Director of Public Health and
Environment at the World Health Organization (WHO).
She announced that WHO will launch a global plan of
action by March 2015 on improving access to WASH at all
health care facilities.
In December 2014, a group of academics and representatives
from WASH and maternal and newborn health (MNH)
agencies, including WHO, presented a call to action for
intersectoral collaboration. They backed up their call with
recent SHARE-funded research, which found that less than
a third of births in Tanzania take place in a setting with safe
water and sanitation. Forthcoming WHO research surveyed
health care facilities in 54 low-income countries and found
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