Energy is essential to modern life. We use it every day, for almost everything we do. Imagine living without access to a reliable supply of energy, or in some cases, any energy at all. This is how 1.6 billion people in developing countries live (IEA, 2008). However, reliable and affordable access to energy has shown to significantly improve the standards of living and development of countries (Franco, et al., 2017). The lack of connection to the energy grid in developing countries is of particular concern when considering their delivery of healthcare. Approximately half of the healthcare facilities in some developing countries don’t have access to reliable electricity (World Health Organization, 2012). How are healthcare professionals meant to do their jobs, when hospitals can’t even keep the lights on?
Hospitals around the world depend on electrical energy to function at night, keep diagnostic equipment functioning, cold store vaccines, and dispose of hazardous wastes (World Health Organization, 2012). Even more importantly, they require electricity to execute life-saving measures when people are in critical need (Franco, et al., 2017). Without these fundamental services, hospitals in developing countries tend to have to reduce their working hours to those with daylight and often lose healthcare professionals due to poor working conditions. According to a survey done by Poor People’s Energy Outlook in 2013, about one billion people in developing countries go without access to healthcare when they are in need because of a lack of reliable energy. In Ghana, for example, 16% of the facilities that offer immunization services for children lack the electrical energy needed to maintain their cooling refrigerators for vaccines and have to stop dispensing vaccines (Franco, et al., 2017). Thus, children are not being protected against preventable illnesses like hepatitis and Haemophilus influenza (WHO Ghana, n.d.). Ghana, surprisingly, isn’t even the worst off (see Figure 1).
The lack of energy in developing countries ends up costing these countries in the long run. The intermittent energy supplies leave medical machinery broken and requiring maintenance after, only, short periods of time. In fact, up to 70% of the breakdowns of medical equipment that occur in developing countries are due to voltage surges occurring after power outages (Franco, et al., 2017). This leaves them to pay the costs for expensive repairs more often than if they had access to continuous electricity.
How can this issue be solved? The use of renewable energy has the potential to provide for developing countries if it can be introduced correctly (IEA, 2008). The challenge is that renewable energy tends to have a very high initial capital cost (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1998). Thus, developing countries are often not able to pay this expense. Consequently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been exploring ways that sustainable energy can be instituted into developing communities. Ideally, if the WHO can, initially, provide sustainable energy technologies to healthcare facilities, these communities can integrate the small recurrent costs of the technologies into their budgets. Over time, they will, hopefully, be able to take full responsibility for the maintenance of these energy systems. Overall, the costs to the countries will be significantly lower than if they had to continuously pay for fossil fuels, while the energy will be more reliable (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1998).
In conclusion, having access to reliable energy can improve the healthcare in developing countries significantly. While the future cannot be predicted, it is likely that sustainable energy will be the solution needed for this improvement.
Works Cited
Franco, A., Shaker, M., Kalubi, D. and Hostettler, S., 2017. A review of sustainable energy access and technologies for healthcare facilities in the Global South. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, [online] 22, pp.92–105. Available at: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213138817301376> [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
IEA, 2008. Renewable Energy Services for Developing Countries. IEA International Energy. [pdf] Available at: <http://www.iea-pvps.org/fileadmin/dam/public/report/technical/rep9_09.pdf> [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1998. Renewable Energy in Rural Health Clinics. NREL. [pdf] Available at: <https://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/25233.pdf> [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
WHO Ghana, n.d. Ghana’s Expanded Programme on Immunization in Ghana. WHO. [pdf] Available at: <http://www.who.int/countries/gha/publications/EPI_Profile.pdf> [Accessed 4 Feb. 2018].
World Health Organization, 2012. Health Indicators of Sustainable Energy in the Context of Rio 20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development. World Health Organization. [pdf] Available at: <http://www.who.int/hia/green_economy/indicators_energy1.pdf> [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
World Health Organization, 2018. Energy access and resilience. [online] World Health Organization. Available at: <http://www.who.int/sustainable-development/health-sector/health-risks/energy-access/en/> [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].