The Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health (Quality of Care Network), just organized a webinar on ‘WASH FIT in Cambodia: An Adaptive Management Tool to Drive WASH Improvements and Enhance Quality of Care’.
The webinar introduced the WASH FIT tool, launched in Cambodia June 2017 in 21 health care facilities across three provinces. The tool is intended to drive improvements at the facility level in the areas of water, sanitation, healthcare waste management, hand hygiene, cleaning and disinfection, environmental management, and facility management. The testing was led by the Ministry of Health, in partnership with WaterAid, WHO and UNICEF.
Listen to the webinar recording
Dr Hoy Vannera Dr Hoy Vannera from the Cambodian Ministry of Health/Quality Assurance team talked about the Cambodian context for maternal and newborn health, where the maternal mortality ratio has dropped from 472 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2005, to 170 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2014 but neonatal mortality decreases at a much slower rate, and now accounts for half of all deaths in children under-five. He explained that water, sanitation and hygiene interventions and expected to have a strong impact on maternal and newborn health outcomes and that this is an area where improvements are needed: while 91% of public health care facilities in Cambodia have access to an improved water sources, only 15% have a hand washing station at OPD, delivery room and within 5 meters from toilets, and 10% segregate heath care waste and dispose of infectious/sharp waste safely. The National Health Strategic Plan 2016-2020 lists as one strategic intervention to improve the supportive environment for overall quality made it a point to push for appropriate hygiene and sanitation in health facilities contributing to improve quality and safety for patients and health personnel
Sophary Phan, Technical Officer, Water Sanitation and Environmental Health, for the World Health Organisation (WHO), Cambodia office, described the steps for quality improvement that facilities took in implementing the WASH FIT tool, and some of its impact so far, which included notably some facilities being noticeably cleaner, installing bathing facilities for patients, separate toilets for women and men.
Resources on WASH FIT
- Water and sanitation for health facility improvement tool (WASH FIT): A practical guide for improving quality of care through water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities
- Achieving quality universal health coverage through better water, sanitation and hygiene services in health care facilities – a focus on Cambodia and Ethiopia
- WASH FIT in Cambodia National Review Meeting Report
See the details on all previous Quality of Care Network’s webinars: http://www.qualityofcarenetwork.org/webinars/
(A mother holds her child as a vaccine is administered at the health centre in the village of Preak Krabao, Kang Meas District, Cambodia, in June 2015. ©UNICEF/Pirozzi)
