Half the world, almost 4 billion people, lack access to essential health services, with one in five having no water services and one in ten having no sanitation services. Nearly 700 million people globally access healthcare facilities without hand hygiene services, putting them at a higher risk for infections. 

The WASH Foundation’s WASH-in-Healthcare Facilities (HCF) program supports and trains rural healthcare center staff to incorporate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) into annual plans, budgets, and implementations to improve the health of their patients and communities. This program supports the efforts of national health ministries by utilizing programs designed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. 

Our teams work to strengthen the abilities of healthcare workers to sustain WASH services and promote good hygiene through a WASH-in-HCF staff training program that includes 3-4 days of training, materials, support, and 1 year of monitoring and evaluation. Our goal is to ensure that healthcare facilities are safe and healthy environments with sufficient water supplies, adequate sanitation, proper waste management, and appropriate cleaning techniques. This approach will ensure healthcare facilities provide quality services through integrated annual health sector planning, budgeting, and programming. 

As The WASH Foundation continues replicating the program throughout the regions where we work, trained HCF staff will become peer trainers, so that more healthcare facilities provide proper levels of water, sanitation, and hygiene standards to their patients.