Health facilities in low- and middle-income countries continue to face the challenge of unreliable electricity, impairing their ability to provide immediate, high-quality, safe, comprehensive routine and emergency care. Hundreds of thousands of health workers face the inordinate challenge of providing life-saving services in near darkness. Now with the COVID-19 crisis, reliable electricity and lighting for frontline health centers is urgently needed to decrease infection and manage suspected and confirmed cases appropriately.
We Care Solar is bringing together energy and healthcare experts for an Ecosystems Event at the 2020 Skoll Forum. The panel will covene 5:00-6:30 PM BST, 9:00 AM PST, and 12:00 PM EST. Leaders from We Care Solar, UN agencies, the Ministry of Health, and international NGOs will discuss the importance of renewable energy for frontline health centers and share best practices for ensuring that all healthcare workers have safe, reliable light and power for medical services, including emergency obstetric care, as well as their own safety. We’ll be discussing the relationship of reliable electricity and the COVID-19 response. After reviewing several successful solar energy programs in Africa designed for replication, we will discuss some of the challenges of scaling and various approaches towards achieving sustainability.
For details about the forum, go to: http://skoll.org/session/skoll-world-forum-2020/shining-a-light-on-frontline-healthcare-scaling-clean-energy-solutions/
To participate: RSVP to laura@wecaresolar.org
