Embrace use of solar energy to improve on health systems in Uganda
By: Gerald Barekye
Worth Noting:
- In order to solve power challenges in the healthy facilities, the government should increase investment in solar energy that is sustainable and cheap.
- Solar energy doesn’t need monthly subscriptions since its powered by nature (sun) that is everywhere and free of charge, the other advantage is that Uganda is one of the countries that have enough sun throughout the year with mean solar radiation of 5.2 per square meter per day on horizontal surface, with such blessing Uganda shouldn’t be struggling with electricity bills since there is already free source of energy that is cheap and sustainable Investing in solar will save the country from heavy bills for healthy centers and equip health facilities with un interrupted power.
In Africa Electricity is considered a luxury but when it comes to health facilities it can mean life or death. In Uganda most healthy facilities are in darkness due to failure to pay electricity bills and some don’t have access to electricity especially healthy centers in remote areas. In 2018 ,Jinja referral hospital was cut off by UMEME due to failure to clear electricity bills and many patients lost their lives ,the story is not different from many hospitals including Gulu referral ,Masindi and many other health centers that are in same situation .Theses hospitals receives hundreds of patients every day and night and unstable power supply have affected the health services given to patients . Of recent the president of Uganda directed all Army barracks to divert to solar use due to high power tariffs that had left many army barracks and police in darkness how I wish this directive included health facilities that are also being affected by the same issue.
Access to energy is a critical enabler of healthcare in Uganda and across the world especially maternal and child health service in remote areas .Health facilities require basic energy for such services as lighting during child delivery, emergency night time care, and refrigeration of essential vaccines and medicines .In Uganda, majority of healthy centers lack access to electricity which has made doctors wok difficult to save patients. For example in 2015, Kiboga’s district hospital went without power for a month, and this is the hospital that serves 100,000 people, doctors were unable to provide even basic first aid such as sutures because they could not sterilize tools. Vaccines and blood went bad because of the lack of refrigeration. Laboratories could not perform diagnostic services without power. The maternity wing was in complete darkness, and Cesarean sections could not be performed. Mothers died on their way to the capital Kampala or private clinics to access emergency obstetric care. This situation wouldn’t have been faced if solar power system was installed in the hospital.
The mistake that the government of Uganda made was privatizing the provision of electricity by granting concessions to non-state actors in the generation and distribution of electricity, and electricity service has since progressively become commercialized and unaffordable to an increasing number of rural communities. This has affected all categories of people since the electricity companies major in making profits without considering lives of people. Under international human rights law however, privatization does not relieve the state of its responsibility to ensure that social services are accessible to all people regardless of their status. The state is obliged to protect its people against any negative tendencies of private service providers through the regulation of tariffs and performance and this is still a challenge that is affecting energy sector that need to be addressed.
In order to solve power challenges in the healthy facilities, the government should increase investment in solar energy that is sustainable and cheap. solar energy doesn’t need monthly subscriptions since its powered by nature (sun) that is everywhere and free of charge, the other advantage is that Uganda is one of the countries that have enough sun throughout the year with mean solar radiation of 5.2 per square meter per day on horizontal surface ,with such blessing Uganda shouldn’t be struggling with electricity bills since there is already free source of energy that is cheap and sustainable Investing in solar will save the country from heavy bills for healthy centers and equip health facilities with un interrupted power. All healthy facilities should be equipped with solar panels to have a functional healthy service sector without limitations. The EACOP should be stopped and divert the investment to clean energy that has no healthy and environmental risks to both human and wildlife.
The government should set conditions that prohibits distribution companies from cutting off power to health facilities .This will protect the vulnerable and ensure that health facilities have uninterrupted electricity supply and UMEME must understand that yes they have a right to be paid for the services it provides but when it comes to hospitals, the consequences are too grave for such hard and fast rules. We need stricter regulations that ensure the unbroken supply of electricity to hospitals, even if the government fails to pay its bills. And if this is not done more patients will die.
Umeme should give hospitals sufficient warning that the power is going to be turned off. This will help these facilities to make arrangements for temporary measures such as generators. The behavior of sending agents to disconnect the power to hospitals with no warning should be stopped.
Finally for Uganda to achieve sustainable development goal 7, huge investments should be made in clean energy with emphasis on solar that is sustainable and cheap .The huge investment in oil and gas projects should be diverted to clean energy that is environmental friendly and free from health hazards. A healthy functioning system will improve on lives of Ugandans and increase on their life expectancy.
Gerald Barekye
Research Associate Afiego
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