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Poor management of health care waste poses a serious threat to the health of health care workers, patients and communities. In developing countries, adequate health care wastemanagement (HCWM) is often... Read more »

As a part of COVID-19 preparedness and response interventions, the Government of Zimbabwe, UNICEF, and civil society organizations conducted WASH assessments in 50 HCFs designated as COVID-19 isolation facilities. Assessments... Read more »

This curriculum is designed to prepare participants / learners to understand and appreciate the impact of inadequate and inappropriate handling of health-care waste, which may have seriouspublic health consequences and... Read more »

This report, developed by Uptime Global, the University of Oxford, and the Government of Zambia, presents a results-based funding model for ensuring safe drinking water in Zambia’s public schools and... Read more »

This paper focuses on water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions in 186 health care facilities affiliated with the Catholic Church, primarily located in low-income regions. The research assessed various aspects of WASH... Read more »

Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) published the results of a global audience research that looked into depth of the perceptions around water, sanitation, and hygiene of experts working in... Read more »

This bibliography contains links and abstracts to UNC Water Institute peer-review studies on WASH in Healthcare Facilities that were published from 2009 through October 2021. Recent studies discuss findings on disinfection efficacy, costing toolkits, conditions in maternity wards, energy access and other topics.

Study of 894 mothers' place of delivery, sociodemographic and economic factors and facility WASH status for the catchment area of two private hospitals in Uganda.

This literature review consists 110 published articles, reports, and case studies from  scientific journals and grey literature that specifically focus on water, sanitation, hygiene, cleaning, and waste management in healthcare facilities in low- and middle-income countries. They are organized by prevailing theme.

Infections acquired during labour and delivery are a significant cause of maternal and child morbidity and mortality. Adherence to hand hygiene protocols is a critical component of infection prevention strategies, but few studies have closely examined the hand hygiene of health care providers with sufficient detail to understand infection risks and prioritize prevention strategies. : This observational study was conducted in six healthcare facilities in Nigeria. In each, five women were observed from the onset of labour through to delivery of the placenta. Hand hygiene infection risk was estimated for all procedures requiring aseptic technique compared against adherence to proper hand hygiene protocol and potential recontamination events. This study highlights that hand hygiene remains a barrier to delivering high-quality and safe care in health facilities. Improving hygiene practices during labour and delivery will require strategies that extend beyond infrastructure provision.