Water, sanitation, and hygiene in selected health facilities in Ethiopia: risks for healthcare acquired antimicrobial-resistant infections.

Background: Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in health facilities, and the low adherence to infection control protocols can increase the risk of hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections (HAIs). The risk for HAIs can increase morbidity, and mortality, health care cost, but also contribute to increased microbial resistance.

Objectives: The study aimed to assess WASH facilities and practices, and levels of nosocomial pathogens in selected health facilities in Oromia Region and Southern, Nations and Nationalities and Peoples (SNNPs) Region.

Progress in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) coverage and potential contribution to the decline in diarrhea and stunting in Ethiopia.

Inadequate safe water supply and poor sanitation and hygiene continue to be important risk factors for diarrhoea and stunting globally. We used data from the four rounds of the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey and applied the new World Health Organization (WHO)/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) service standards to assess progress in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) coverage between 2000 and 2016. We also performed an age-disaggregated pooled linear probability regression analysis followed by a decomposition analysis to determine whether changes in WASH practices have contributed to the changing prevalence of diarrhoea and stunting in children under 5 years of age.