Powering Healthcare Impact Factsheet

The document examines the critical link between reliable electricity and the quality of healthcare in resource-constrained settings. It highlights that unreliable power affects nearly 60% of health facilities in 46 low- and middle-income countries, leading to equipment failure and reduced service capacity. The factsheet advocates for off-grid solar solutions as a cheaper and more reliable alternative to grid extension or diesel generators, citing significant improvements in maternal health, disease diagnosis, and staff and patient satisfaction in countries like India, Uganda, Ghana, and Zambia.

• Reliable electricity is fundamental to essential medical services, including the medical cold chain for vaccines, water purification, e-health applications, and safe lighting for emergency obstetric care.
• Energy poverty in health facilities is widespread in the global south; approximately 60% of facilities in 46 low- and middle-income countries have unreliable power, and 70% of medical devices in the global south are non-functional, with nearly one-third of failures caused by power issues.
• Off-grid solar is presented as the most cost-effective electrification option for remote areas due to drastic price drops in technology: battery prices fell 73% by 2017 and PV module prices decreased by over 80% since 2009.
• Electrification significantly improves maternal health outcomes; in Uganda, women delivering in facilities without electricity were 39 times more likely to die than those in electrified facilities.
• Solar energy deployment increases service delivery and diagnostic capacity, as evidenced by a 2530% increase in tuberculosis testing in the Lundazi district of Zambia and a 50% increase in out-patients and institutional deliveries in Chhattisgarh, India.
• Reliable power dramatically increases health worker and community satisfaction; a study in Ghana and Uganda showed health worker satisfaction rising from 0% to 100% (Ghana) and 76% (Uganda), while community satisfaction rose to 94.7% (Ghana) and 95.4% (Uganda).

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (n.d.). Powering Healthcare Impact Factsheet. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2022-03/phc-impact-factsheet-005.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Powering Healthcare Impact Factsheet. n.d. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2022-03/phc-impact-factsheet-005.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Powering Healthcare Impact Factsheet |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2022-03/phc-impact-factsheet-005.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforallndpowering, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Powering Healthcare Impact Factsheet}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2022-03/phc-impact-factsheet-005.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }