No woman should give birth in the dark. No surgery should be carried out by candlelight. And no child should be left vulnerable to disease because vaccines cannot be refrigerated. For too long, a lack of reliable power has prevented people in remote and

rural communities from accessing the healthcare they need, when they need it. As the race for universal energy access picks up pace, here are five ways renewable energy can help protect quality healthcare for the world’s poorest.

1. Providing Access

Nearly one billion people live without electricity, and 50 percent of them are found in sub-Saharan Africa alone[1]. Energy poverty prevents access to healthcare for millions of vulnerable people around the world. Health clinics, maternity wards, surgery blocks, medical warehouses, and laboratories rely on electricity to refrigerate medicines, power the lights and operate life-saving medical devices. Intermittent or unreliable power source puts lives at risk.

“The worst was seeing a new-born baby dying,” says David Masara, Sister in Charge at Budiriro Polyclinic in Zimbabwe, “and I couldn’t do anything because we didn’t have any source of power.”
UNDP’s Solar for Health initiative is supporting governments to install solar systems in health centres and clinics in rural areas to reach underserved communities. The aim is to ensure healthcare for all, wherever they may be, and that no one is left behind.

The Solar panels at the Sipepa Rural Hospital ensure that the clinic is able to function adequately at night, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
“The Government of Zimbabwe desires to have the highest possible level of healthcare and quality of life for its citizens regardless of their geographical location,” explained Clive Marimo – Director for Hospital Planning and Infrastructure in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe.

“The rolling-out of the Solar for health project tallied well with the ministry’s strategic plan of improving primary healthcare. Most primary healthcare facilities located remotely are off grid and the solar project transformed the services of such facilities where basic procedures were not possible due to unavailability of a power source,” he continued.

For example, maternal mortality is higher for women living in rural areas and among poorer communities. The installation of solar panels in Zimbabwe is helping to ensure that health care workers can reduce complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth.

“The issue of lack of power is no longer an issue at all,” David says now. “Pregnant women can deliver their babies in stable conditions.”

2. Ensuring Quality

Quality healthcare requires a dependable source of power. For instance, maintaining the ‘cold chain’ for vaccines and medicines is essential and requires refrigeration, cold rooms and IT systems for stock management.

“The Solar for Health is very important in the supply and management of medical and surgical consumables, most so, the cold chain,” explained Dr Mwale Consity, Provincial Director for Lusaka, Zambia.

“Vaccines, which are basically the future of our country, remain potent and viable,” he continued.

Previously in Zambia, power interruptions regularly affected the refrigeration of medicines and vaccines. Yet with support from UNDP and the Norwegian Emergency Preparedness System, Zambia’s 7,000 m2 national medical warehouse now has solar panels on its roof. Covering roughly the size of a football pitch, the panels provide uninterrupted power for the refrigeration of life-saving medicines and vaccines.

Solar panels on the roof of the national medical warehouse in Lusaka, Zambia, which stores and distributes pharmaceutical health products, like vaccines and essential medicines, across the country.
“There shouldn’t be any break in the way the temperatures are maintained,” explains Naomy Nthele, Sister in Charge at Chongwe District Hospital in Zambia.

“With continuous power supply, we know that our vaccines are safe and effective,” she says.

Nurse Gezile Maseko refrigerates newly received vaccines. During the postnatal visit, Nurse Maseko gives 7-day-old baby Anson his polio vaccine. Shabasonje Health Centre, Shibuyunji District, Zambia.
Solar power has also improved the quality of health services provided by ensuring effective, safe healthcare, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We used to tell patients to come with candles. Sometimes we were even using the torchlight on the phone. It was very, very difficult for us,” said Veronica Lungi, Nurse and midwife at Chikumbi Health Post in Zambia.
“After they connected the solar panels, every night we’d switch on the lights. It was amazing – it was like a dream.”

Regular power cuts meant health facilities in Zimbabwe previously faced IT challenges. This impeded effective data collection and management, which is essential for managing patient files and tracking cold chain data. The introduction of solar has helped to solve this issue.

“Now we have credible data we can actually rely on,” says David Masara.

The consistent source of energy provided by solar power also helps the health sector to withstand the negative impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events, droughts, and other shocks that affect access to the traditional power supply.

Furthermore, Solar for Health is helping countries to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Energy plays a vital role in enabling health care delivery, but can also inflict significant environmental harm: energy production and use is the single biggest contributor to global warming. The decommissioning of highly polluting and noisy diesel generators also considerably improves the local environment.