The World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Regional Office has called on governments, private sector partners, innovators, scientists and communities to invest in access to water for health facilities and households in the region.
The office said the outbreak of Coronavirus (Covid-19) has shunned the light on the inequalities in access to basic services, adding that the situation provides an opportunity to improve access to water for vulnerable communities on the Continent.
“This year, as we battle the Covid-19 pandemic, the life-saving importance of clean hands has never been more prominent,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti.
In a statement to mark World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5, Dr. Moeti said hand hygiene, along with physical distancing; respiratory etiquette and disinfecting surfaces are the basic preventive measures for a range of diseases, including Covid-19.
She said the theme for the Day, “nurses and midwives, clean care is in your hands” was selected because infection prevention and control, including hand hygiene, is important especially in health facilities as part of ensuring quality patient care.
“We are also working with sub-regional nursing associations and other partners and have trained more than 3000 health workers via interactive virtual seminars, including demonstrating good hand hygiene,” she said.
Dr. Moeti observed the need for an urgent scale-up of access to water across the continent as more than one in four health-care facilities have no water service and less than 50% of households having basic hand washing facilities with soap and water.
“Over the past 20 years, progress on access to water in Sub-Saharan Africa is mixed,” she said.
“The number of people using unimproved sources remained the same. The number using surface water decreased by one third,” she added.
The number of people travelling 30 minutes or more roundtrip to collect water, has also more than doubled, with this burden falling mainly on women and girls.
The WHO Regional Director said her office is therefore working with countries, the World Food Programme (WFP) and other partners to ensure health workers have essential supplies, such as personal protective equipment, including gloves.
“In recent weeks, we delivered replenishments to more than 50 African countries,” she said.
Dr. Moeti further noted that increasing number of facilities are producing alcohol-based hand rubs locally, but said it was not a substitute for a safe, reliable water supply.
“In response to Covid-19, more and more hand washing points are being set-up, and we need to look at longer-term solutions to sustainably increase access,” she urged.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri