NGO WASH FORUM MEMBERS DEBATE ZAMBIA’S PROGRESS ON WASH IN HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
Livingstone, Thursday (November 21, 2024)
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) affiliated with the Zambia NGO WASH Forum are discussing Zambia’s progress against the 72nd World Health Assembly Resolution WHA72.7 on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Health Facilities (2019).
The Resolution was co-sponsored by Zambia that committed to achieve 90% of health facilities with basic water and sanitation and 80% with adequate health care waste management and hand washing at critical areas, by 2022.
The latest international report from WHO/UNICEF (2024) shows that 13% of Zambia’s health facilities had no water, while no data is available for sanitation access and hand washing.
The discussions on this matter are taking place during a dedicated Learning Event in Livingstone, from 19 to 21st November, that includes the exchange of best practices and lessons learned about WASH in Health Care Facilities from the CSOs in attendance.
WaterAid’s Technical Advisor for Private Sector and Partnerships, Mr. Adamson Sakala, said an initial assessment conducted in 2017 in 41 healthcare facilities in Zambia found that 80% lacked basic water services and 100% lacked basic sanitation.
Through the work of this NGO, all 41 facilities were supported to having 100% WASH access.
Following this success, an additional 46 health facilities received the intervention, bringing the total to 87 in the provinces of Southern, Western and Luapula.
Despite the significant progress with the infra-structure, challenges remain with sustainability and the scaling up to other locations in the country.
Of note, is the need to move from “hygienic use and maintenance that depends on the staff’s individual passion to a system where everyone, including the communities, takes good care of the facilities made available”, as stated by Mr. Sakala.
Sharon Roose, SNV’s Senior Advocacy Advisor for Water, stated that the challenges faced in Zambia are shared by other countries, as globally one in four healthcare facilities lack basic WASH services, with the situation being worse in least developed countries.
She called for Eight Practical Steps with emphasis on funding, infrastructure, training, sustainable services, accountability, and data collection.
Speaking on behalf of the NGO WASH Forum, Mr. Bangwe Naviley highlighted that this learning exercise is made possible through the Water Voices United project, a transformative four-year project co-funded by the European Union and Danish People’s Aid and spearheaded by SNV in partnership with the NGO WASH Forum.
Mr. Bangwe mentioned that the initiative aims to enhance the capabilities and synergies among WASH Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to support the Government to advance the Human Right to Water and Sanitation in Zambia.
Issued by:
Bubala Muyovwe-Mumba
National Coordinator – Zambia NGO WASH Forum
