In December 2017, the Tanzanian Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children launched the National Guidelines for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Healthcare Facilities. These guidelines set standards and outline an approach for the provision of water and sanitation services in hospitals, clinics and other health facilities across the country.
However, these guidelines do not help the women and babies of Narumu whose nearest maternal health centre is a basic two room building that lacks reliable water and sanitation.
“Health and water are intrinsically linked: we cannot deliver health coverage to all with hospitals that don’t have water, sanitation, hygiene, and good waste management,” says WaterAid’s U.S. Director of Policy and Advocacy Lisa Schechtman, as if she were speaking specifically about Narumu.
In Tanzania, 78 percent of healthcare facilities do not have access to water and only seven percent have modern sewers. This means that the vast majority of Tanzania’s women will give birth without clean running water or a modern toilet. Instead health facilities may use water from stagnant or untreated sources or may store water in in unhygienic conditions. In Tanzania, it’s not unknown for women to have to buy water for use when they attend a health center.
There are many consequences to a lack of water and sanitation services in medical facilities. “Lack of access to clean water and living in an environment with dirty stagnant water are known to result in largely preventable water–related diseases that can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes.” says Grace Kodindo an Obstetrician-Gynaecologist from Chad.
The importance of clean water has been well known in the area of public health for over 150 years. Many studies have shown that without safe drinking water and basic sanitation – like safe toilet facilities – women face many health risks in pregnancy, during childbirth and in the postpartum period. Women are at a higher risk of developing health care associated infections and the risk of infection is particularly high in newborn babies – sepsis is almost always fatal. Additionally, women say they are discouraged from giving birth or seeking other services from medical facilities which lack water and sanitation.
In addition, the service providers – nurses, midwives and doctors find their work in made much harder: procedures such as caesarean-sections and cord cutting carry higher risks, creating greater stress and anxiety for health care workers. Simply put, medical workers cannot work to the best of their abilities.
This is reality for the women for Narumu today. Tujenge Maisha is helping change this situation. By building a new health facility with clean and adequate water and modern sanitation, Tujenge Maisha will contribute towards better health and better lives for mothers and their babies.
