Humanitarian & development
Location:
Africa
Sponsor:
Thierry Vandevelde
- Grant:
€ 70,000 to the Board of Directors on 13 June 2022
Project Leader
Emmaus Outreach Center
The Covid pandemic has highlighted the need for good hygiene in health care facilities. The Vatican government is supporting a programme to improve access to water and sanitation in hospitals.
According to the 2019 WHO/UNICEF report "Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Health Facilities", 894 million people attend health facilities without sustainable and continuous access to safe drinking water. And nearly 1.5 billion people pass through health facilities without sanitation.
The Covid-19 epidemic has highlighted the urgent need to be able to comply with certain hygiene measures. The Vatican's Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development has taken the subject head-on by publishing the document "Aqua fons vitae" in March 2021. It recalls "the importance of hygiene measures" and states that "without water and adequate hygiene procedures, billions of people are at risk". To put its money where its mouth is, the Vatican government has embarked on a water and sanitation (WASH) project in hospitals in 22 countries.
Nearly 150 small clinics and hospitals will be assessed from a WASH point of view in order to consider work that could improve hygiene, access to water and sanitation. Infrastructures, new equipment, training... Everything that can help prevent the spread of new diseases and ensure patient care will be reviewed.
The Veolia Foundation provides technical support and co-financing for a hospital in Bamenda, Cameroon, run by the Capuchin friars' Emmaus Outreach Center.