The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have warned about 1.8 billion people worldwide at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and other infections due to problems with water supplies in hospitals. This is reported on the website of the organization.
“Water, sanitation and hygiene are vital to the safety of healthcare workers and patients, but this is not always a priority,” the organization said in its report.
The report says that the worst situation is in 47 of the world's least developed countries (LDCs), where one in four health facilities have no water supply and one in three does not have hand hygiene products or safe sorting of waste.
WHO Director General Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus said that the work of medical staff in the absence of proper hygiene in institutions is equivalent to the work of doctors without personal protective equipment. He recalled that water supply, sanitation and hygiene play a major role in the fight against COVID-19. According to him, “the least developed countries” have yet to overcome these serious problems.
WHO has tentatively estimated that it will cost approximately US $ 1 per capita to establish basic water services in health facilities for all 47 LDCs. On average, $ 0.20 per capita per year is required to operate and maintain services.
On December 12, the number of people infected with coronavirus during the entire pandemic exceeded 70 million people.
Earlier, the head of WHO, Tedros Adan Ghebreyesus, warned about the danger of coronavirus for the majority of the world's population.
