Let’s hear from Paul Hunter, Norwich School of Medicine, University of East Anglia, about this 2018 article published in BMJ Global Health “The main reason for me to publish this work as open access was to address the needs of individuals who may utilise this research to enhance public health in low and middle income countries (LMICs).”
Paul Hunter is a professor in Medicine at Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia and was the first professor of health protection in the United Kingdom. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal Society of Biology, and of the Faculty of Public Health.
What inspired you to pursue research in this particular area?
At the time, I was part of a World Health Organization group that was looking at water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in healthcare facilities around the world because a very high proportion of them lacked access to improved sanitation as well as reliable and safe drinking water. The WHO, United Nations and UNICEF were keen to develop a programme to try and improve this situation globally and we were looking to find good evidence to show the value of good WASH in healthcare. This was also the first systematic review to be published on this topic. How do you envision your research contributing to the broader field or addressing real-world issues? There is a critical need to improve WASH services in healthcare facilities. The Secretary-General of the United Nations made a speech at the time stressing the importance of WASH in healthcare. But the World Health Organization needed better evidence of the value of WASH and we provided that evidence. Our research has been picked up by various agencies around the world and is being used to influence national and international policies aimed at improving WASH in healthcare.
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