Improving water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in primary health care facilities in Edo State, Nigeria: A call for action

Abstract

Addressing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in health care facilities will foster action towards achieving the inter-related Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 6. WASH plays a significant role in sexual and reproductive health service delivery quality. Despite the relevance of WASH to reproductive health, quality of care, and disease control in Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities, accessibility is considerably low, with minimal attention given to the enormous yet solvable crisis of inadequacy of WASH in PHC facilities in Edo State. This paper provides insight on WASH status in PHC facilities in Edo State, identifies barriers to WASH provision, and practical steps to improving WASH services in the PHC facilities in Edo State. It was concluded that strict adherence to minimum standards for WASH facilities in PHCs should be ensured, and also a regular assessment of the availability and quality of WASH services in PHC facilities in Edo State should be conducted.