Water, sanitation, and hygiene initiative at health centres supports community health in Monapo

MONAPO, Mozambique - "We had a lot of difficulties accessing water here in our health centre, especially in the maternity ward," recalls, 27-year-old Elibio Vitorino, the Director of the Metocheira Health Centre in Monapo district, Nampula Province.

The Metocheira Health Centre lacked access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, putting patients—especially women who went to the health centre to deliver babies—at greater risk of contracting an infection.

"I also consider the new waste management infrastructure a great improvement for the health of our community. Hospital waste used to be disposed of and burned in a community landfill near an area where children play, and that was a big public health risk," Elibio said. "Now we have safe new waste disposal infrastructures that enable us to better control the risk of children getting sick and introducing infections to the community."

The WASH in Health Care Facilities (HCF) initiative is implemented through a partnership between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Government of Mozambique’s Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, and the Ministry of Health, with the goal of reducing infection-related deaths of newborns and women during childbirth. WASH-related improvements to HCF also contribute to improving the dignity of patients and the morale of healthcare workers.

“Now that we have water, everything is easier,” said Helena Graciano, who gave birth to two children at the  Metocheria Health Centre.

The WASH in HCF initiative is a multi-donor programme with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Union, the United Nations, Governments of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC). The initiative currently covers 186 HCF across five provinces (Nampula, Zambézia, Tete, Cabo-Delgado and Sofala).