Sec. 3. Statement of policy; sense of congress
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It is in the national security interest of the United States to increase access to sustainable and safe water, sanitation, and hygiene in healthcare facilities, through global health, maternal, newborn and child health, and global water programs, activities, and initiatives that— increase access to safe water in healthcare facilities; enable handwashing at all points of care; increase access to toilets in healthcare facilities, including non-sewered sanitation solutions and a variety of technologies for sanitation and healthcare waste treatment; provide for the safe segregation, treatment, and disposal of healthcare waste and increased infection and prevention control measures; promote WASH social and behavior change to ensure the safety of health workers and patients to improve infection prevention and control measures; improve the ability of patients and healthcare workers, including persons with disabilities to access water, sanitation, and hygiene, including for their menstrual health and hygiene needs in primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare facilities; promote health facility administration management and monitoring of water, sanitation, and hygiene services in healthcare facilities for infection prevention and control and quality of care outcomes, including— ensuring operations and maintenance of water and sanitation infrastructure; and providing support to patients to adopt consistent sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health behaviors; integrate water, sanitation, and hygiene services into pandemic preparedness and response and global health security initiatives, including preventive measures that help to contain infectious disease outbreaks at their source and support resilient health facilities to ensure continuous primary care during an outbreak; and provide technical support to partner governments, particularly Ministries of Health, to improve wash systems and to incorporate safe water, sanitation, and hygiene into national plans, strategies, and budgets for new and existing healthcare facilities.
It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in implementing the Global WASH in Healthcare Facilities Action Plan described in section 5, should— coordinate in consultation with the USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health, the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, and the Global Water Coordinator, to expand safe water, sanitation, and hygiene in healthcare facilities; promote assistance to and build the capacity of national governments to include water, sanitation, and hygiene indicators in national health systems monitoring and budgets; coordinate implementation of existing United States Government strategies related to WASH in healthcare facilities, including the United States Global Water Strategy and United States International Activities to Advance Global Health Security and Diplomacy Strategy and Report to achieve the objectives of section 3(a); include policies that promote the privacy, safety, and dignity of women and girls, and disability access in design, implementation, and evaluation, in accordance with existing USAID policies for people with disabilities; promote the development of resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene systems in healthcare facilities; and prioritize high priority countries where the needs are greatest.