Only 40% Of Global Health Facilities Meet Basic Sanitation Standards — UN

Only four in 10 healthcare facilities worldwide met basic sanitation standards in 2025, with millions of patients and healthcare workers still lacking access to adequate toilets and hygiene facilities, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

The report, released on Tuesday, found that 11 per cent of healthcare facilities globally had no sanitation services at all, affecting an estimated 936 million people.

Sub-Saharan Africa Records Lowest Coverage

The report, which drew on data from 70 countries, revealed major regional disparities in access to sanitation.

Only 23 per cent of healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa provided basic sanitation services, compared with 55 per cent in central and southern Asia.

For a facility to qualify as having basic sanitation, it must have usable toilets that meet the needs of patients and staff, including people with limited mobility.

The standard also requires at least one toilet for staff, a sex-separated toilet equipped with menstrual hygiene facilities and an accessible toilet for people with limited mobility.

Gaps Beyond Sanitation

The report also assessed access to water, hygiene, environmental cleaning and healthcare waste management.

It found that 85 per cent of healthcare facilities had basic water services, while 72 per cent had basic hygiene services.

About 71 per cent met basic healthcare waste management standards.

However, environmental cleaning remained a major concern, with only 59 per cent of facilities meeting basic standards.

Environmental cleaning standards require healthcare facilities to have cleaning protocols and trained cleaning personnel as part of efforts to prevent and control infections.

Poorer Countries Face Greater Challenges

The situation was significantly worse in the world’s least-developed countries, where only 24 per cent of healthcare facilities met the basic environmental cleaning standard.

The WHO and UNICEF warned that inadequate water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management and environmental cleaning in healthcare facilities can increase the risk of infections and undermine the quality and safety of healthcare delivery.

The figures highlight the urgent need for greater investment in basic healthcare infrastructure, particularly in poorer countries and regions where sanitation services remain severely limited.