
Around a billion people today rely on health facilities without electricity supply. While most large hospitals may have round-the-clock access to power, electrification rates drop significantly for rural clinics. In the absence of reliable power, many of the basic life-saving interventions cannot be undertaken safely or at all.
A recent study analysing more than 121,000 health facilities, in 46 low and middle-income countries, found that almost 60% of them lacked access to reliable electricity. Even facilities with electricity access can often suffer from an unreliable supply – negatively impacting the ability of medical professionals in rural communities to deliver modern health services.
Renewable energy is at the forefront of solving this issue. Off-grid (stand-alone and mini-grid) renewable energy solutions represent a cost-effective, rapidly deployable and reliable option to electrify healthcare centres, transforming lives whilst bolstering global efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 – good health and wellbeing.
To support this, IRENA organized the international conference on Renewable Energy Solutions for Healthcare Facilities in November 2018. The event bridged the fields of access to electricity and healthcare, bringing together policy-makers, practitioners, financial institutions, development partners, and NGOs, to explore the potential for off-grid renewables to significantly improve energy access for rural healthcare facilities and co-develop meaningful pathways to address the challenges faced by the sector.
Key messages from the discussion at the event:
These outcomes are summarised in IRENA’s healthcare conference flyer:
Access to electricity is crucial to provide effective healthcare. Yet an estimated one billion people rely on health facilities without electricity. IRENA’s healthcare conference flyer summarizes the outcomes of the international conference on Renewable Energy Solutions for Healthcare Facilities in detail, recognising the need for action.
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