WASH Contributes to Improved Health
Pat Merryweather-Arges is the Vice President of the Rotary International Board of Directors. She is also on the board of WASH-RAG. Her home Rotary Club is Naperville, IL and has been a Rotarian since 2022. Pat serves as the Executive Director of Project Patient Care, a non-profit bringing together patients, families, and caregivers to improve healthcare. She is a top public health expert in the world.
WASH and Health ... Go Hand in Hand
The goal of the WASH-RAG Ambassador Conversations sessions is to help create a sense of community and belonging, and for Ambassadors to inform WASH_RAG about their needs, and to offer suggestions for future conversations.
Ambassador Conversations #6: WASH Contribution to Improved Health
Pat Merryweather-Arges is the Vice President of the Rotary International Board of Directors. She is also on the board of WASH-RAG. Her home Rotary Club is Naperville, IL and has been a Rotarian since 2022. Pat is the Executive Director of Project Patient Care, a non-profit bringing together patients, families, and caregivers to improve healthcare. She is a top public health expert in the world.
Pat provided a wonderful overview of how WASH contributes to improved health. She shared her experience several decades ago as her eye-opening moment and realization of the importance and interconnectedness of water, sanitation, and health. This was a reminder of a suite of health issues that stem from poor water and sanitation, several of which are still often overlooked and present in both low- and high-income countries.
This a stark reminder that there is still a lot of work that can be done to address the 2.2 million people dying from waterborne diseases every year, including 5,000 children a day dying from diarrhoea and 1 million cases of morbidity globally that could be prevented. In addition, good hygiene practices have decreased since the pandemic, with a large burden of healthcare-associated infections being prevalent in intensive care units, neonatal units, and surgical care.
We are all in this together, and this is a global challenge.
Essential requirements to ensure successful WASH in healthcare facilities include:
There is a suite of opportunities for Rotarians to engage in helping to meet the 2030 timeline for every healthcare facility to:
Pat Merryweather-Arges is the Vice President of the Rotary International Board of Directors. She is also on the board of WASH-RAG. Her home Rotary Club is Naperville, IL and has been a Rotarian since 2022. Pat is the Executive Director of Project Patient Care, a non-profit bringing together patients, families, and caregivers to improve healthcare. She is a top public health expert in the world.
Pat provided a wonderful overview of how WASH contributes to improved health. She shared her experience several decades ago as her eye-opening moment and realization of the importance and interconnectedness of water, sanitation, and health. This was a reminder of a suite of health issues that stem from poor water and sanitation, several of which are still often overlooked and present in both low- and high-income countries.
This a stark reminder that there is still a lot of work that can be done to address the 2.2 million people dying from waterborne diseases every year, including 5,000 children a day dying from diarrhoea and 1 million cases of morbidity globally that could be prevented. In addition, good hygiene practices have decreased since the pandemic, with a large burden of healthcare-associated infections being prevalent in intensive care units, neonatal units, and surgical care.
We are all in this together, and this is a global challenge.
Essential requirements to ensure successful WASH in healthcare facilities include:
- Planning: include the community in this step
- Buy-in from all sectors: Implement priorities with both hospitals and the community, and think simultaneously.
- Training
- Monitoring
- Measurement of hand hygiene interventions and health outcomes.
There is a suite of opportunities for Rotarians to engage in helping to meet the 2030 timeline for every healthcare facility to:
- Ensure safe drinking water for all
- Ensure safe sanitation for all
- Encourage and facilitate frequent hand hygiene
- Implement regular cleaning and disinfecting
- Manage excreta, feces, and urine safely
- Manage health care waste safely