Only four out of every 10 healthcare facilities worldwide meet basic sanitation standards, according to a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF.
The report, released on Tuesday, found that 40 per cent of healthcare facilities in 2025 had adequate and usable toilets for patients and staff, including people with limited mobility. Meanwhile, 11 per cent had no sanitation services at all, affecting about 936 million people.
The basic sanitation standard requires healthcare facilities to have usable toilets, including at least one designated for staff, separate facilities for males and females with menstrual hygiene provisions, and at least one toilet accessible to people with limited mobility.
The report, based on data from 70 countries, showed significant regional disparities. Only 23 per cent of healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa met the basic sanitation standard, compared with 55 per cent in Central and Southern Asia.
Beyond sanitation, the WHO and UNICEF estimated that 85 per cent of healthcare facilities had basic water services, while 72 per cent had basic hygiene services and 71 per cent met basic healthcare waste-management standards.
Environmental cleaning was another major concern. Only 59 per cent of facilities met basic environmental cleaning standards, which require cleaning protocols and trained staff as part of infection prevention and control.
The situation was particularly severe in the world’s least-developed countries, where only 24 per cent of healthcare facilities met the environmental cleaning standard.
The agencies said the findings highlight major gaps in healthcare infrastructure and the urgent need for improved water, sanitation, hygiene and waste-management services in health facilities worldwide.
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