08/04/2019

SNV WASH e-group discussion on health care facilities opens soon

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Bastions of health – health care facilities are at the frontline of maintaining and responding to people’s health care needs. The quality of care received in health care facilities is often understood as access to medicines, patient-health care representative relationship, etc. But the availability of WASH services and facilities, and hygienic practice, e.g., safe disposal of health care waste, seem to lack adequate attention.

“I call on people everywhere to support action for WASH in all health care facilities.  This is essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.” – António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

In response to the UN Secretary-General’s call, the SNV WASH team is hosting its first 2019 electronic discussion on the theme WASH in Rural Health Care Facilities (1). The e-group discussion - which commences days after World Health Day - starts on 10 April, and will run until the end of the month.

SNV WASH's e-group

Created in March 2019, the SNV WASH e-group platform (2) now has 1,350 members. Each registered member will have access to three thematically organised sub-groups: rural sanitation, urban sanitation, and rural water supply.

505 members are now registered for the rural sanitation sub-group. Our members largely hail from government, WASH (and broader) development organisations, think tanks and research institutes, and philanthropic organisations.

What to expect from the up-and-coming e-group?

The rural sanitation e-group on health care facilities will be moderated by Antoinette Kome, SNV's Global Sector Coordinator for WASH.

Each week, from 10 April, members will dialogue on a rural sanitation sub-topic linked to WASH and health care facilities (HCFs). To open the discussion, our moderator will prepare and circulate a two-paged concept note to registered members.

Weekly schedule

Sub-topic blocks

10-16 April

Status of WASH in health care facilities, what do we know, what don’t we know?

17-23 April

Opportunities and priorities to improve WASH in HCFs at intermediate levels of government

24-30 April

Integration of waste streams

Key discussion points arising from member exchanges and contributions will be curated by our moderator. Curated content will be made available in the form of summary documents for each sub-topic block. These will be followed by the three-week activity’s synthesis report.

What happens after the e-group?

Content of the summaries, to a large extent, will shape the agenda of our May 2019 face-to-face rural sanitation learning event that will be hosted by SNV in Bhutan.

Documentation of the May rural sanitation learning event will be arranged by SNV. The event's report will be circulated to all members of the e-group, and uploaded in the SNV website, to feed into the members’ respective learning loops.

It's not too late to participate

Interested to participate? Send an email to: wash@snv.org, with the subject title: Registration to e-group.

In your email request, please indicate:

  • your full name in your request; and

  • which sub-group you will want to follow: rural sanitation | urban sanitation | rural water supply (there too is an option to follow all sub-groups and opt out at a latter date)

We look forward to the opportunity to engage with you.

Notes
[1] The inextricable link between the human right to health (SDG 3) and water and sanitation (SDG 6) is highlighted in the latest WHO/ UNICEF JMP report. According to the report, one in four healthcare (HC) facility lacks basic water services, affecting two billion people. A further 1 in 5 does not receive a sanitation service, affecting 1.5 billion people. 
[2] SNV has been running digital thematic discussions since 2008. Hosted by the Dgroups platform, last month, the e-group discussion moved to its new home, hosted by Groups.io.