Infections acquired in hospitals are costing Sub-Saharan Africa as much as $8.4 billion each year and leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths, new research has found.
At least half of these infections could be avoided by improved handwashing facilities, access to decent toilets and proper hygiene, according to a report by WaterAid and the World Bank.
Sol Oyuela, WaterAid’s Executive Director of Global Policy and Campaigns, said that the new research highlights a “bleak reality” for those living without access to clean water. “Every healthcare facility must be able to operate with these basic human rights,” she said.
The study was conducted across seven African countries, including Nigeria, Malawi and Ethiopia. It found that the financial toll of treating hospital-acquired infections in these nations amounts to 1.1 per cent of their GDP and 4.5 per cent of their healthcare budgets.
In the UK, the financial toll of such infections on GDP is just 0.14 per cent, making the economic burden nearly 10 times larger in the surveyed African countries.