Only 40 per cent of healthcare facilities worldwide met basic sanitation standards in 2025, while 11 per cent had no sanitation services at all, according to a new report by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
The agencies said the findings highlight significant gaps in sanitation across healthcare facilities, where inadequate toilets and hygiene services can increase risks for patients, healthcare workers and visitors.
The report provides the first global estimates of basic sanitation services in healthcare settings.
Its 2025 estimates found that basic sanitation requires usable facilities that include at least one toilet for staff, at least one sex-separated toilet with menstrual hygiene facilities and at least one toilet accessible to people with limited mobility.
The findings were based on data from 70 countries.
Sub-Saharan Africa Records Lowest Coverage
Sanitation standards varied significantly across regions.
Only 23 per cent of healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa provided basic sanitation services, compared with 55 per cent in central and southern Asia.
Globally, more than one in 10 healthcare facilities had no sanitation services, affecting an estimated 936 million people.
The figures indicate that millions of patients and healthcare workers still lack access to adequate toilet facilities within healthcare settings.
Water And Hygiene Coverage Higher
The report also assessed access to water, hygiene, environmental cleaning and healthcare waste management.
An estimated 85 per cent of healthcare facilities had basic water services in 2025, while 72 per cent had basic hygiene services.
Basic healthcare waste management services were available in 71 per cent of facilities.
Environmental cleaning, however, remained a major gap.
Only 59 per cent of healthcare facilities met basic environmental cleaning standards. These standards require both established cleaning protocols and trained cleaning personnel and are considered essential to infection prevention and control.
Poorer Countries Face Greater Gaps
The situation was particularly severe in the world’s least-developed countries.
Only 24 per cent of healthcare facilities in those countries met the basic environmental cleaning standard.
The report also found that 18 per cent of healthcare facilities, serving around 1.5 billion people, met neither of the requirements for basic environmental cleaning.
For environmental cleaning, the analysis was based on data from 54 countries.
The findings highlight persistent weaknesses in essential healthcare infrastructure, particularly in poorer countries, where inadequate sanitation, cleaning and waste management can undermine efforts to provide safe healthcare.
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