UN: Only 40% of health facilities meet sanitation standards

GENEVA (AFP) — Only 40 percent of health care facilities worldwide met basic sanitation standards in 2025, while 11 percent had no sanitation services at all, the United Nations said Tuesday.

A report by the World Health Organization and UNICEF found major gaps in access to usable toilets for patients and staff, including people with limited mobility.

Based on data from 70 countries, the report found that only 23 percent of facilities in sub-Saharan Africa provided basic sanitation services, compared with 55 percent in central and southern Asia.

Facilities without sanitation services served about 936 million people worldwide.

The report also found that 85 percent of health care facilities had basic water services, 72 percent had basic hygiene services and 71 percent had basic health care waste management.

Only 59 percent met basic environmental cleaning standards, which require cleaning protocols and trained staff. In the world’s least-developed countries, just 24 percent of facilities met the standard.