Assessment of Environmental Cleaning Practices and the Impacts on Infection Prevention and Control in Selected Hospitals in Tanzania

Abstract

To achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in healthcare facilities (HCFs,) the provision of water, sanitation, healthcare waste management, hand hygiene and environmental cleanliness services is crucial. Good WASH services in HCFs settings have the potential to reduce healthcare acquired infections (HAIs), increase trust and uptake of healthcare services, increase efficiency and improve staff morale. To address this, a National Assessment was carried out to ascertain environmental cleanliness condition of the healthcare facilities at all levels. The assessment of healthcare waste management in the facilities was conducted in all the 26 regions of Tanzania Mainland including dis-tricts and lower healthcare facilities. A standardized checklist and tools were used to assess and monitor various aspects related to healthcare waste management using open source software for data collection (ODK). Data were analyzed using SPSS computer software. It was observed that most of permanent staff (88%) in the Healthcare facilities had knowledge on hand hygiene, but (60%) and last at waste zones. The assessment concludes that handling of healthcare wastes is not practiced to the expectations, and there is a need to strengthen the situation. The findings provide evidence for those engaged in improving HCF conditions to develop evidence-based policies and efficient programs, enhance service delivery systems, and make better use of available resources.