Making water available in healthcare centres

For a long time, the Sacré Cœur healthcare centre at Walikale in the Nord-Kivu province was affected by issues with water, sanitation and hygiene. “It was difficult,” explained the nurse who works at the centre, knowing that the quality of healthcare was impacted by these issues. Staff had to travel outside of the centre to look for water, and to bring it back to cover patients’ basic needs. “It was serious and I felt shame about the situation”, the nurse added, noting that he did not know what to do to ensure the health and dignity of the patients.

With the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), UNICEF installed a system to extract water and preserve rainwater in order to ensure permanent access to water in the healthcare centre. Improving water, hygiene and sanitation in healthcare centres facilitates the reduction of nosocomial infections and contributes to the improvement of healthcare quality.

“It did a lot of good to have access to water easily and permanently,” said Espérance who was at the healthcare centre with her sick daughter. Before the water extraction system was installed, Espérance had to leave her daughter to get supplies at a body of water far from the healthcare centre.