Accelerating Change: Reaching Every Person with Clean and Safe Water

In many parts of the world, including communities and health facilities in the Lango sub-region of Northern Uganda, access to clean, safe water is a challenge. People must travel long distances to get water, which may be contaminated if it is a drinking point for other animals, too. Additionally, many water sources are non-functional or work below their level of efficiency because communities and health facilities cannot maintain or repair their water points.

This was the situation at Acut Health Centre II in Oyam District: with a well shared with other animals and 7km from the facility, it struggled to keep patients hydrated and safe from infection.

“It was quite challenging to manage the maternity unit. It is well known that labor has no time, so some attendants were forced to walk 5–7 km at night to fetch water,” said Sandra Ejang, a midwife at the health center. She added that community water sources were located in highly populated areas, so staff and patients had to wait on hours-long queues to get water.

The USAID Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services North Lango (RHITES-N, Lango) project, implemented by JSI, supported water, sanitation, and hygiene and infection prevention control interventions to improve the delivery of high-quality health care services. As part of this, it helped four health facilities in the region, including Acut, drill and rehabilitate boreholes. In addition to Acut staff and patients, its new borehole serves more than 5,000 people in the district.

They say water is life! This borehole has enabled us to provide our patients, staff, and the community with a constant supply of safe and clean water. This not only ensures better health outcomes but also improves the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our services. We are truly grateful for this support, and we pledge to continue providing the best possible care to our community,” said Sandra.

Photo: Barbara Akite/RHITES-N, Lango