Improving water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities (2019)

Meeting report

27–28 September 2017, Bonn, Germany

On 27 and 28 September 2017, a meeting on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in health care facilities took place in Bonn, Germany, organized by the European Centre for Environment and Health of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The meeting was targeted at national policymakers from the WHO European Region who deal with WASH issues in health care settings. It sought to increase their awareness and understanding of the significance of these issues, and to strengthen their commitment to addressing them through the frameworks of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Protocol on Water and Health.

Participants reviewed how these and other global and regional instruments could be used to improve WASH in health care facilities; surveyed relevant evidence from the Region; shared their countries’ efforts in the area and the challenges they face; and discussed the ramifications that WASH services in health care facilities have on maternal and child health, the environmental sustainability of health services, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).