30/06/2021
As the world is still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the solar electrification of health facilities is a game-changer in some of the world’s poorest communities. Here are three ways it helps the fight against COVID-19.
1. MAKING VACCINE ROLL-OUT POSSIBLE
Vaccines must be kept cool to remain effective. A successful vaccination roll-out relies on a consistent cold chain to transport vaccines from A to B, and a reliable way to keep vaccines refrigerated once they’ve arrived at their destination.
Both are major challenges in the world’s poorest regions, where there is little to no access to electricity. This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where 548 million people live without access to electricity – which corresponds to over half of the total global population that does not have access to electricity. 25% of health facilities in the region have no access to electricity, and a further 28% face frequent power outages, leading to poorer quality healthcare and impeding vaccine distribution.
The good news? Solar powered cooling solutions make it possible to safely store vaccines. For reliable access to electricity for health facilities, UNDP and its partners aim to scale energy solutions for vaccination across the COVID-19 cold chain, deploy technologies such as portable solar power battery refrigerators to enable transport and last mile distribution of vaccines, as well as solar-power fridges and freezer to store the vaccines at immunization points.
2. POWERING EMERGENCY CLINICS IN CONFLICT AREAS
COVID-19 added further pressure on health systems that were often stretched to begin with. In conflict-affected areas such as Yemen, the health system was already in a dire state when the pandemic hit.
“People sometimes travel for hundreds of kilometers to find a fully functioning healthcare facility, especially from rural areas,” explained Dr. Jubran Al-Sulait, Quality Affairs Consultant for the Sana’a Health Office. “Even if fully equipped and manned, healthcare facilities that consistently experience power supply interruptions or fuel shortages are not used for fear that someone may die.”
To help Yemen cope with the dual crisis of the civil war and the pandemic, with funding from the European Union UNDP is rehabilitating 86 healthcare facilities by installing solar rooftops to reduce overall costs while ensuring improved electricity supply. To date 82 of the 86 targeted healthcare facilities – including nine with COVID-19 isolation units – have been equipped with solar power, ensuring better access to healthcare for 240,000 people across 12 governorates.
3. SUPPORTING A GREEN RECOVERY THAT LEAVES NO-ONE BEHIND
Beyond the immediate COVID-19 response, the solar electrification of health facilities helps to build better health systems that leave no one behind. With reliable solar electricity, the clinics can remain open for longer, women can give birth without life-threatening power cuts, health workers can safely use medical machines, have uninterrupted access to clean water, as well as improved capacity, communications and data continuity – all while helping clinics reduce their operating costs and carbon emissions.
It also creates local jobs by training technicians to install and maintain solar panels, providing much needed livelihoods to vulnerable communities
