The United Nations (UN) announced striking data on hygiene and sanitation conditions in healthcare facilities around the world.
According to the report prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, in 2025, only 40 percent of healthcare facilities worldwide had basic sanitation services that met the needs of patients and employees.
The report stated that 11 percent of health facilities had no sanitation services.
With the report, WHO and UNICEF published global estimates on basic sanitation services in health facilities for the first time.
THREE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CORE STANDARD
According to the UN, having usable toilets is not enough for a health facility to meet basic sanitation standards.
The facilities must have at least one toilet reserved for employees, at least one toilet reserved for men and women with menstrual hygiene facilities, and at least one toilet accessible to people with limited mobility.
The report, based on data from 70 countries, revealed large differences between regions.
While only 23 percent of health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa can provide basic sanitation services, this rate rises to 55 percent in Central and South Asia.
THERE IS NO SANITATION IN THE FACILITIES SERVING 936 MILLION PEOPLE
According to the report, 11 percent of healthcare facilities worldwide do not have any sanitation services. It is estimated that these facilities provide healthcare services to approximately 936 million people.
In addition to sanitation, water, hygiene, environmental cleaning and medical waste management conditions in health facilities were also examined.
Accordingly, 85 percent of the facilities have basic water services, 72 percent have basic hygiene services and 71 percent have basic health waste management.
CLEANING PROBLEM CONCERNING BILLIONS
Only 59 percent of healthcare facilities meet basic environmental cleanliness standards.
In order to achieve this standard, healthcare institutions must have both established cleaning protocols and trained personnel. These conditions are critical for the prevention and control of infections.
According to data from 54 countries, 18 percent of healthcare facilities meet neither of these two conditions. These facilities serve approximately 1.5 billion people.
THE PROBLEM IS MORE SEVERE IN POOR COUNTRIES
According to the report, lack of sanitation and hygiene is reaching more serious levels, especially in the world's poorest countries.
Only 24 percent of healthcare facilities in the least developed countries meet basic standards of environmental cleanliness.
UN data reveals that serious deficiencies continue in access to the most basic conditions such as clean water, toilets, hygiene and infection control in facilities where billions of people receive health care.
