Assessment of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Adequate provision of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities are supporting pillars of healthy living. Hence, this review was aimed at the assessment of the status of WASH services in sub-Saharan Africa. The study used secondary data, sourced from the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report by UNICEF and WHO (2015). This data was used to assess the WASH status of sub-Saharan Africa. Other information highlighted in the paper were obtained from existing literature, in peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings, commissioned studies and the internet. Data obtained were presented in tables and further analyzed using percentages. The review revealed that WASH services are poorly provided in sub-Saharan Africa, with negative consequencies on the health and socioeconomic development of people who have poor access to WASH services. Some of the reasons that have led to the poor provision of WASH services in the region are broadly classified into natural and human-related. The natural causes are the region's extreme climate and rainfall variability, which has been made worst by climate change, resulting in desertification, shrinkage of some water bodies and growing water scarcity; while the human-related causes include, poor governance, weak institutions, poor financing, and corruption in the WASH sector, amongst others. The study recommends the adoption of a comprehensive, inclusive and integrated WASH strategy that fit the peculiarities of each country in the region. This would help in maximizing the benefits of WASH services and the promotion of healthy living in the region.

Progress on Sustainable Development Goal for Sanitation and Hygiene in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…These statistics show that sanitation provisions in many countries in the region are progressing at a very uncomfortable rate, which corroborates previous findings (Hopewell and Graham, 2014;Armah et al, 2018;Ukoji and Ndakara, 2021). This situation could make many countries to miss the SDG target 6.2a; just as only three countries (Cape Verde, Reunion, Seychelles) met the MDG targets for sanitation by 2015 (Ohwo and Agusomu, 2018).…”

Self-Assessment of Hygiene Practices towards Predictive and Preventive Medicine Intervention: A Case Study of University Students in Ghana

“…Self-assessment of hygiene behavior and life styles is not only an important determinant of the generation of accurate disease burden estimates among target populations but also is critical towards preventive and predictive medicine [21–23]. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the personal hygiene practices among university students in Accra, Ghana, aiming at providing a basis for preventive medical intervention, with a goal of making future efforts improve target interventions for young people.…”

What it takes to save lives: An assessment of water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities in temporary COVID-19 isolation and treatment centers of Southern Ethiopia: A mixed-methods evaluation

“…Water from unimproved sources was also used by 7 (20%) of the treatment centers. Water quality has previously been reported to affect hospital efficiency and its deterioration is known to result in a drastic decrease in health services [25]. This is particularly true in COVID-19 treatment facilities [26].…”