Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure access to clean water for (a) midwives and (b) other healthcare workers; and if she will hold discussions with representatives of WaterAid on this issue.

The FCDO recognises the importance of ensuring that all health care staff and their patients have access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to reduce infection risks and improve quality of care globally.

We will continue to pursue these objectives through our membership of the WASH In Healthcare Facilities international taskforce, continuing to support the Sanitation and Water for All partnership to help governments increase access to WASH services in healthcare facilities, through our bilateral programming such as our bilateral funding to the Joint Monitoring Programme who have recently published a report on WASH in Health Care Facilities, and through our core multilateral funding to the World Health Organisation.