Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in other countries on progress towards universal access to (a) water, (b) sanitation and (c) hygiene in healthcare facilities.

Improving access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services, including in healthcare facilities, is a global health priority for the FCDO. It forms a core part of the UK's new Ending Preventable Deaths of mothers, babies and children strategy published in December 2021, and is critical to our wider global health objectives.

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development office continues to engage with international partners, including through the G7, G20 and the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) forum, to ensure WASH is included in efforts to prevent the spread of infections including COVID-19, to prevent future pandemics, and to reduce the threat of anti-microbial resistance. We will also continue to pursue these objectives through our membership of the "WASH In Healthcare Facilities" international taskforce, through our bilateral programming such as our innovative hand hygiene partnership with Unilever, and through our core multilateral funding including to the World Bank and the World Health Organisation.