Around 50% of healthcare facilities lack basic hygiene services. It puts people at great risk of acquiring infection. There is not any access to water, soap, or any form of alcohol-based hand rub in these healthcare facilities where patient care is of utmost importance.
Around 3.85 billion people use such facilities which put them at a higher risk of acquiring infection, among those 688 million individuals receive treatment at facilities where no hygiene services are provided.
Post-pandemic, the recovery, prevention, and preparation to fight against such transmissions hold a greater prominence. Basic hygiene can-not be ignored to curb the infection acquired in such facilities.
The healthcare structure in sub-Saharan Africa stands far behind in maintaining proper hygiene standards. Around 73% of healthcare facilities have water or alcohol-based hand rub and soap at points of care, the 37% of handwashing facilities have soap and water in toilets. Around 87% of hospitals provide hand hygiene facilities at the point of care, compared to other 68% of healthcare facilities.
In underdeveloped countries, 53% of health care facilities provide access to protected water sources on-premises. The global figure accounts for 78%, with hospitals holding a share of 88%, performing comparatively better than 77% of smaller health care facilities. In urban regions, 3% of health care facilities lacked water services, and 11% have no access to water in rural regions.
It is essential to maintain sanitary standards in hospitals to prevent HAIs. In the U.S., around 99,000 deaths are caused by healthcare-associated infections. Patients usually with a terminal disease experience infection, that is often ignored.
Numerous people get admitted to hospitals due to illness prolongation, which often causes unexpected death due to HAI. The lack of basic hygiene facilities results in a high risk of getting HAI. The healthcare-associated infections further result in increasing stay at hospitals and long hospital bills.
People having chronic illnesses such as diabetes, or cardiac problems are at higher risk of getting affected by HAI due to a weak immune system. Such people require more careful treatment with proper hygiene to ensure safety from infections.
Post-COVID, the government has started investing in healthcare infrastructure to improve the services to fight against such infections and save the lives of the people. The pandemic has unfolded the ground reality of the healthcare system. The rural areas of the country lack healthcare facilities for basic treatment with proper hygiene.