WHO / HEALTH FACILITIES ELECTRIFICATION
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English
13-Jan-2023
00:04:55
Close to 1 billion people in low- and lower-middle income countries - 1 in 8 of the world’s population –are served by health-care facilities that lack a reliable electricity supply, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll). WHO
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Description
STORY: WHO / HEALTH FACILITIES ELECTRIFICATION
TRT: 4:54
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGAUGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
SHOTLIST:
20 JANUARY 2018, AZAZ, SYRIA
1. Wide shot, Patient undergoing Dialysis
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“Electricity is a vital, important part of a functioning health care facility to deliver quality health care services, which is a part of universal health coverage. It is absolutely fundamental that health care facilities have a reliable source of electricity that is available at all times and is functioning. Imagine going to a health care facility with no lights, with no opportunity to have a baby warmer functioning. To have medical devices functioning and powered all the time. It's absolutely fundamental that we have this electricity. This is an often overlooked infrastructure aspect of health care facilities that are desperately needed to continue to provide care to those most vulnerable populations in low and middle income countries.”
20 JANUARY 2018, Azaz, Syria
3. Varius shots, Patient undergoing Dialysis
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“This is a joint report led by the WHO in partnership with the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency, as well as Sustainable Energy For All. It is one of the first global assessments of the electrification status of health care facilities in low and lower middle income countries. It also provides a review of the enabling environment for ensuring access to electricity in both the policy and technological terms. It also provides us an investment assessment completed by the World Bank to help us understand the investment required to ensure that health care facilities have, in 63 low and middle income countries, have adequate or any connection. So building upon any connection or putting in a backup supply for those systems that already existed. It also ensures and identifies those priority actions to really push policy and the finance required.”
16 MARCH 2021, COVAX, COLOMBIA
5. Various shots, healthcare workers
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“One of the problems that we, that this, that this report highlights is this "install and forget" approach that is often used by development partners in communities. We really need to be really installing and making sure that we're there to maintain the systems after they've been installed and that there's actually capacity of the health care workers as well as the energy sector, to maintain those systems and ensure the reliability and functionality. In addition this report highlights the importance of climate change resilience and how reliable decentralized renewable electricity and health care facilities can really ensure the resilience of climate change for health care facilities so that they can provide care in the most dire circumstances and provides emergency preparedness so that yes, indeed, when there is a hurricane or floods or what have you, they still are able to have some form of power to provide emergency care as needed.”
7. Med shot, Adair-Rohani speaking
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“People assumed that health care facilities have a supply of electricity and that that supply is adequate and functional at all times. And this is a huge overlooked problem that we are really trying to to work as WHO, bring the health sector to work with the energy sector to really address it in a comprehensive way where both actors are really on the ground working together so that we can maximize our impact and ensure synergies of our efforts.”
9. Med shot, Adair-Rohani listening
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“This is a great opportunity because of health, because of the improvements in innovation and the reduced costs for renewable energy systems, both the battery and solar panels. In many cases, we no longer have to wait for the grid. This is particularly important for remote settings where, you know, it's very costly and very challenging to get the grid extended to these areas. So the decentralized renewable options really provide the opportunity for those facilities, would often be overlooked by grid extensions or we'll have to wait for a long time to actually get power in a in a timely manner to ensure the delivery of quality health care services.”
16 MARCH 2021, COVAX, COLOMBIA
11. Various shots, healthcare workers
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“The biggest message coming out of this report is that there is no reason to wait.”
16 MARCH 2021, COVAX, COLOMBIA
13. Various shots, healthcare workers
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“The Sustainable Development Goals three and seven have really enabled this as a priority and has set the stage for action. WHO in partnership with International Renewable Energy Agency, the World Bank, other organizations like Sustainable Energy For All, are really taking this on as an important issue to really accelerate and achieve what we can by electrifying health care facilities as soon as possible.”
15. Med shot, Adair-Rohani speaking
STORYLINE:
Close to 1 billion people in low- and lower-middle income countries - 1 in 8 of the world’s population –are served by health-care facilities that lack a reliable electricity supply, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll). Access to electricity is critical for quality health-care provision, from delivering babies to managing emergencies like heart attacks, or offering lifesaving immunization. Without reliable electricity in all health-care facilities, Universal Health Coverage cannot be reached, the report notes.
The joint report, Energizing Health: Accelerating Electricity Access in Health-Care Facilities, presents the latest data on electrification of health-care facilities in low- and middle-income countries. It also projects investments required to achieve adequate and reliable electrification in health-care.
“Electricity access in health-care facilities can make the difference between life and death,” said Dr Maria Neira, Assistant Director-General a.i, for Healthier Populations at WHO. “Investing in reliable, clean and sustainable energy for health-care facilities is not only crucial to pandemic preparedness, it’s also much needed to achieve universal health coverage, as well as increasing climate resilience and adaptation.”
Electricity is needed to power the most basic devices – from lights and communications equipment to refrigeration, or devices that measure vital signs like heartbeat and blood pressure – and is critical for both routine and emergency procedures. When health-care facilities have access to reliable sources of energy, critical medical equipment can be powered and sterilized, clinics can preserve lifesaving vaccines, and health workers can carry out essential surgeries or deliver babies as planned.
And yet, in South Asia and sub-Saharan African countries, more than 1 in 10 health facilities lack any electricity access whatsoever, the report finds, while power is unreliable for a full half of facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. Although there has been progress in recent years on electrification of health-care facilities, approximately 1 billion people worldwide are served by health-care facilities without a reliable electricity supply, or no electricity at all. To put this in perspective, this is close to the entire populations of the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan and Germany combined.
Disparities in electricity access within countries are also stark. Primary health-care centres and rural health facilities are considerably less likely to have electricity access than hospitals and facilities in urban areas. Understanding such disparities is key to identifying where actions are most urgently needed, and to prioritize the allocation of resources where they will save lives.
Electricity access is a major enabler of Universal Health Coverage, the report states, and so electrification of health-care facilities must be considered an utmost development priority requiring greater support and investments from governments, development partners and financing and development organizations.
According to a World Bank needs analysis included in the report, almost two-thirds (64%) of health-care facilities in low and middle-income countries require some form of urgent intervention – for instance, either a new electricity connection or a backup power system – and some US$ 4.9 billion is urgently needed to bring them to a minimal standard of electrification.
Decentralized sustainable energy solutions, for example based on solar photovoltaics systems, are not only cost-effective and clean, but also rapidly deployable on site, without the need to wait for the arrival of the central grid. Solutions are readily available, and the impact for public health would be huge.
Additionally, healthcare systems and facilities are increasingly affected by the accelerating impacts of climate change. Building climate-resilient health care systems means building facilities and services that can meet the challenges of a changing climate, such as extreme weather events, while improving environmental sustainability.
TRT: 4:54
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGAUGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
SHOTLIST:
20 JANUARY 2018, AZAZ, SYRIA
1. Wide shot, Patient undergoing Dialysis
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“Electricity is a vital, important part of a functioning health care facility to deliver quality health care services, which is a part of universal health coverage. It is absolutely fundamental that health care facilities have a reliable source of electricity that is available at all times and is functioning. Imagine going to a health care facility with no lights, with no opportunity to have a baby warmer functioning. To have medical devices functioning and powered all the time. It's absolutely fundamental that we have this electricity. This is an often overlooked infrastructure aspect of health care facilities that are desperately needed to continue to provide care to those most vulnerable populations in low and middle income countries.”
20 JANUARY 2018, Azaz, Syria
3. Varius shots, Patient undergoing Dialysis
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“This is a joint report led by the WHO in partnership with the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency, as well as Sustainable Energy For All. It is one of the first global assessments of the electrification status of health care facilities in low and lower middle income countries. It also provides a review of the enabling environment for ensuring access to electricity in both the policy and technological terms. It also provides us an investment assessment completed by the World Bank to help us understand the investment required to ensure that health care facilities have, in 63 low and middle income countries, have adequate or any connection. So building upon any connection or putting in a backup supply for those systems that already existed. It also ensures and identifies those priority actions to really push policy and the finance required.”
16 MARCH 2021, COVAX, COLOMBIA
5. Various shots, healthcare workers
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“One of the problems that we, that this, that this report highlights is this "install and forget" approach that is often used by development partners in communities. We really need to be really installing and making sure that we're there to maintain the systems after they've been installed and that there's actually capacity of the health care workers as well as the energy sector, to maintain those systems and ensure the reliability and functionality. In addition this report highlights the importance of climate change resilience and how reliable decentralized renewable electricity and health care facilities can really ensure the resilience of climate change for health care facilities so that they can provide care in the most dire circumstances and provides emergency preparedness so that yes, indeed, when there is a hurricane or floods or what have you, they still are able to have some form of power to provide emergency care as needed.”
7. Med shot, Adair-Rohani speaking
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“People assumed that health care facilities have a supply of electricity and that that supply is adequate and functional at all times. And this is a huge overlooked problem that we are really trying to to work as WHO, bring the health sector to work with the energy sector to really address it in a comprehensive way where both actors are really on the ground working together so that we can maximize our impact and ensure synergies of our efforts.”
9. Med shot, Adair-Rohani listening
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“This is a great opportunity because of health, because of the improvements in innovation and the reduced costs for renewable energy systems, both the battery and solar panels. In many cases, we no longer have to wait for the grid. This is particularly important for remote settings where, you know, it's very costly and very challenging to get the grid extended to these areas. So the decentralized renewable options really provide the opportunity for those facilities, would often be overlooked by grid extensions or we'll have to wait for a long time to actually get power in a in a timely manner to ensure the delivery of quality health care services.”
16 MARCH 2021, COVAX, COLOMBIA
11. Various shots, healthcare workers
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“The biggest message coming out of this report is that there is no reason to wait.”
16 MARCH 2021, COVAX, COLOMBIA
13. Various shots, healthcare workers
13 JANUARY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Heather Adair-Rohani, Acting Unit Head, Air Quality, Energy and Health, WHO:
“The Sustainable Development Goals three and seven have really enabled this as a priority and has set the stage for action. WHO in partnership with International Renewable Energy Agency, the World Bank, other organizations like Sustainable Energy For All, are really taking this on as an important issue to really accelerate and achieve what we can by electrifying health care facilities as soon as possible.”
15. Med shot, Adair-Rohani speaking
STORYLINE:
Close to 1 billion people in low- and lower-middle income countries - 1 in 8 of the world’s population –are served by health-care facilities that lack a reliable electricity supply, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll). Access to electricity is critical for quality health-care provision, from delivering babies to managing emergencies like heart attacks, or offering lifesaving immunization. Without reliable electricity in all health-care facilities, Universal Health Coverage cannot be reached, the report notes.
The joint report, Energizing Health: Accelerating Electricity Access in Health-Care Facilities, presents the latest data on electrification of health-care facilities in low- and middle-income countries. It also projects investments required to achieve adequate and reliable electrification in health-care.
“Electricity access in health-care facilities can make the difference between life and death,” said Dr Maria Neira, Assistant Director-General a.i, for Healthier Populations at WHO. “Investing in reliable, clean and sustainable energy for health-care facilities is not only crucial to pandemic preparedness, it’s also much needed to achieve universal health coverage, as well as increasing climate resilience and adaptation.”
Electricity is needed to power the most basic devices – from lights and communications equipment to refrigeration, or devices that measure vital signs like heartbeat and blood pressure – and is critical for both routine and emergency procedures. When health-care facilities have access to reliable sources of energy, critical medical equipment can be powered and sterilized, clinics can preserve lifesaving vaccines, and health workers can carry out essential surgeries or deliver babies as planned.
And yet, in South Asia and sub-Saharan African countries, more than 1 in 10 health facilities lack any electricity access whatsoever, the report finds, while power is unreliable for a full half of facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. Although there has been progress in recent years on electrification of health-care facilities, approximately 1 billion people worldwide are served by health-care facilities without a reliable electricity supply, or no electricity at all. To put this in perspective, this is close to the entire populations of the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan and Germany combined.
Disparities in electricity access within countries are also stark. Primary health-care centres and rural health facilities are considerably less likely to have electricity access than hospitals and facilities in urban areas. Understanding such disparities is key to identifying where actions are most urgently needed, and to prioritize the allocation of resources where they will save lives.
Electricity access is a major enabler of Universal Health Coverage, the report states, and so electrification of health-care facilities must be considered an utmost development priority requiring greater support and investments from governments, development partners and financing and development organizations.
According to a World Bank needs analysis included in the report, almost two-thirds (64%) of health-care facilities in low and middle-income countries require some form of urgent intervention – for instance, either a new electricity connection or a backup power system – and some US$ 4.9 billion is urgently needed to bring them to a minimal standard of electrification.
Decentralized sustainable energy solutions, for example based on solar photovoltaics systems, are not only cost-effective and clean, but also rapidly deployable on site, without the need to wait for the arrival of the central grid. Solutions are readily available, and the impact for public health would be huge.
Additionally, healthcare systems and facilities are increasingly affected by the accelerating impacts of climate change. Building climate-resilient health care systems means building facilities and services that can meet the challenges of a changing climate, such as extreme weather events, while improving environmental sustainability.
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unifeed230113h
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