UN: Only 40pc of world's health facilities meet toilet sanitation standards
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Only 40 percent of healthcare facilities worldwide meet basic sanitation standards, according to the United Nations, with 11 percent lacking any sanitation services. In a report, the World Health Organisation and United Nations Children's Fund presented global estimates of sanitation in healthcare settings for the first time. The 2025 estimate highlighted significant gaps in access to basic sanitation, which requires usable facilities such as staff-only toilets, sex-separated toilets with menstrual hygiene amenities, and accessible toilets for those with limited mobility.
The report, based on data from 70 countries, revealed that sanitation levels in healthcare facilities varied greatly between regions. Only 23 percent of facilities in sub-Saharan Africa provided basic services, compared to 55 percent in central and southern Asia. More than one in 10 health facilities globally had no sanitation service, serving 936 million people.
The report also examined access to water, hygiene, environmental cleaning, and waste management in healthcare facilities. While 85 percent of facilities had basic water services, 72 percent had basic hygiene services, and 71 percent had basic waste management services, 59 percent met environmental cleaning standards. However, 18 percent of facilities, serving around 1.5 billion people, failed to meet these environmental cleaning standards, relying on data from 54 countries.
The situation was particularly concerning in poorer countries, where environmental cleaning standards were met by just 24 percent of facilities in the world's least-developed nations.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
