This year’s World Health Day (April 7, 2021) theme is “health inequality” and 2021 is the “International Year of Health and Care Workers”. Without WASH in Health Care Facilities (HCF), healthcare workers and cleaners do not have the adequate resources to protect themselves and the populations they serve.

The new global health movement for WASH in HCF has, in a matter of just three years, turned a “neglected crisis” within global health into a global health movement.

The Swiss Water and Sanitation Consortium is a part of 100 Stakeholder Commitments to WASH in Healthcare Facilities. Global Water 2020, the convenor of these commitments, states:

“These aren’t paper promises, these are commitments to action and the core of this growing global health movement.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WASH is an essential service and progress to get it into HCF will be among the most critical global health advances we can make. As WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros says,

"If you can't do the basics, forget the rest. Prevention, prevention, prevention."

On the occasion of World Health Day 2021, we encourage everyone to take action and to contribute to reaching these commitments. Together, we are going to get those healthcare professionals and patients the water, soap and sanitation they need to do their jobs safely, effectively and with dignity!