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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.

A summary of a lunchtime session held at UNC (October 2019). The goal of this lunch session was to appraise the “state of the evidence” on WASH in HCF following the first research meeting in 2016 and revisit which research topics which should be prioritized for future research. The meeting report from the 2016 research meeting, can be found at: https://www.washinhcf.org/resource/global-meeting2016-research-needs-london/

An analysis of antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic consumption worldwide versus many potential contributing factors.

Routine use of the WASH FIT tool coupled with WASH infrastructure improvements can lead to better IPC practices.

Meeting report from the 2016 global meeting on WASH in HCF held in London, UK.