NGO calls for increased investment in healthcare facilities
eHealth Africa, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), has called on government to increase investment in renewable energy to bridge power supply gap in healthcare facilities in rural areas. The group’s Executive Director, Atef Fawaz, made the call in an interview with the Newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.
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According to him, the call becomes imperative because improved power supply through renewable energy can reduce avoidable mortality rate in healthcare facilities.
He said that the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has found that up to a billion people worldwide depend on healthcare facilities that lack sufficient power supply. Also in developing countries, over 60 per cent of such facilities lack reliable power supply.
He, therefore, said “it is quite disturbing that healthcare facilities that are mostly already overstretched due to inadequate personnel and equipment are still battling with insufficient power supply when their activities largely depend on it. It is no more news that Nigeria is battling with power supply, with generation hovering within 4,500 – 5,000 megawatts nationwide and distribution even much lower. This no doubt makes it difficult or impossible for power supply to reach rural areas and directly impact healthcare facilities.”
Fawaz said that inadequate power supply and little or no investment in alternative sources had to a large extent limited the quality of medical equipment that could be used in healthcare facilities. He added that big hospitals currently depend on generating sets to perform surgical operations and other medical procedures.
He said: “unfortunately, with an upward review in the cost of petroleum products like the Premium Motor Spirit and diesel, it means the cost of running healthcare centres will become more expensive.”
He said that sadly, the burden would be on the poor masses, already struggling to afford basic things of life. He said this was why people self-medicate through their ailment until it becomes severe and sometimes leads to death.
NAN/Wumi
