A National Investment Case on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Health-Care Facilities (HCFs) in Tajikistan

Access to WASH services has cross-cutting development benefits that contribute to the achievement of multiple SDGs (3 and 6), in relation to good health and well-being, among other aspects. And yet the economics of WASH are seldom incorporated into economic analyses or investment cases for disease.

The field observations and findings from the discussions reveal that the HCFs located mostly in rural and peri-urban areas of Tajikistan experience a lack of adequate WASH, which is detrimental, contributing to lethal outcomes at the community level. And, despite progress in access to WASH in HCFs over the years in Tajikistan, many of them, especially those in rural areas, still fall short of providing the basic WASH services required to accomplish their public duties.

Moreover, the data on the cost of implementing WASH interventions in HCFs in Tajikistan are quite limited. Estimating the investment case in HCFs in Tajikistan requires a collaboration between the MoHSPP of the Republic of Tajikistan and UNICEF on data sharing, but, most importantly, this collaboration should intensify efforts to track progress for WASH services in HCFs.

This is the first study of this kind conducted with financial support of the European Union which quantifies the cost of action and that of inaction to achieve the SDG 6 target for WASH and waste services in HCFs in Tajikistan by 2030.