Walking into a health facility and having access to a clean, usable toilet may seem like one of the most basic expectations. For many health facilities in Ghana, however, meeting the full international standard for basic sanitation remains a challenge.

🇬🇭 Here's What Happened

Only 16% of health care facilities in Ghana met the basic sanitation standard in 2025, according to the latest assessment by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Put differently, roughly five out of every six health facilities did not meet all the requirements needed to be classified as having basic sanitation.

The finding is contained in the WHO/UNICEF report, Progress on Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, Environmental Cleaning and Waste Management in Health Care Facilities 2015–2025 .

📌 Key Details

And "basic sanitation" means considerably more than simply having a toilet somewhere on the premises.

To meet the WHO/UNICEF standard, a health facility must have improved and usable sanitation facilities, including a toilet dedicated to staff, sex-separated facilities with provision for menstrual hygiene, and a toilet accessible to people with limited mobility.

The Ghana data show that while 16% met this full standard, 74% had only limited sanitation services, and 10% had no sanitation service.

For patients, health workers, pregnant women, persons with disabilities and others who use health facilities, the figures bring attention to something fundamental to health care: whether the environment in which care is provided has the water, sanitation and hygiene conditions necessary for safe and dignified services.

Ghana's sanitation situation is particularly striking when compared with the rest of the world.

Globally, 40% of health facilities met the basic sanitation standard in 2025, compared with Ghana's 16%. The estimate for sub-Saharan Africa was 23%.

📰 Source: Joy Online Ghana