Aim of the Course

The aim of this course is to provide the target audience with the knowledge of the role of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in infection, prevention and control (IPC) in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and to provide necessary information and tools to ensure WASH related interventions and services are available in the health care settings to limit the transmission of COVID-19.


Target Audience

This course is made for advisory and managerial staff focusing on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) in the health care sector. Those may be local or national government, NGO and UN and community based organizations staff.


Module 1 – Introduction: WASH and IPC in health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Understand what is the target audience of the course, its aim and learning outcomes.
  • Understand how COVID-19 spreads and what is the role of WASH and IPC in limiting the transmission of COVID-19 in the health care settings and their surrounding communities.

Module 2 – Implementation: WASH and IPC in health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Water Supply: Understand why it is important to guarantee supply of safe and sufficient water in health care settings and what minimum standards we should aim to achieve.
  • Hand Hygiene: Understand the importance of hand hygiene in health care settings and what can be done for enhancing this behavior during the pandemic context.
  • Sanitation: Understand why it is important to have adequate and functional sanitation infrastructures in the health care settings (toilets, showers and waste water management facilities) and what minimum standards we should aim to achieve.
  • Environmental Hygiene: Understand why cleaning and disinfection of surfaces and equipment in the health care settings is important and what supplies and standard operating procedures (SOPs) the health care facilities should have to enable environmental hygiene.
  • Solid Waste Management: Understand why health care waste management is important and what infrastructures and procedures the health care facilities should have to reduce disease transmission and environmental pollution linked with health care waste management.
  • Dead Body Management: Understand what actions can be implemented to manage dead bodies and their burial in a safe way in both health care and community settings during the pandemic context.
  • Needs Assessment and Monitoring: Knowing what tools are available for assessing what are the WASH needs of health care facilities and how to monitor the functionality of WASH services and the implementation of correct WASH related behaviors during the pandemic context.