When It Is Not Measured, How Then Will It Be Planned for? WaSH a Critical Indicator for Universal Health Coverage in Kenya

Thelma Zulfawu Abu and Susan J. Elliott
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Thelma Zulfawu Abu: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3GI, Canada
Susan J. Elliott: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3GI, Canada

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-23

Abstract: The quality and safety of healthcare facility (HCF) services are critical to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and yet the WHO/UNICEF joint monitoring program for water supply, sanitation and hygiene report indicates that only 51% and 23% of HCF in Sub-Saharan Africa have basic access to water and sanitation, respectively. Global commitments on improving access to water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management and environmental cleaning (WaSH) in HCF as part of implementing UHC have surged since 2015. Guided by political ecology of health theory, we explored the country level commitment to ensuring access to WaSH in HCFs as part of piloting UHC in Kisumu, Kenya. Through content analysis, 17 relevant policy documents were systematically reviewed using NVIVO. None of the national documents mentioned all the component of WaSH in healthcare facilities. Furthermore, these WaSH components are not measured as part of the universal health coverage pilot. Comprehensively incorporating WaSH measurement and monitoring in HCFs in the context of UHC policies creates a foundation for achieving SDG 6.

Keywords: WaSH; universal health coverage; quality care; healthcare facility; LMICs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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