Solar electrification boosts Uganda’s health centres

An excited old man greeted us on our arrival at Ayer Health Centre III in Uganda’s northern district of Kole on the morning of October 1st. At 76 years, Johnson Okello had just got a daughter with his 24-year-old wife Pasquine Acen, and everyone was saying the baby was his spitting image. The celebration of the drastic drop in Okello family’s average age most probably wouldn’t have happened were it not for the heroic feat by Sister Ketty Adiambo. The dedicated midwife had performed the delivery under general darkness, relying solely on the light of her phone which was tightly gripped between her teeth. Okello had already named the hours-old baby girl Ketty Adiambo.

Power outages are frequent in Uganda, but fortunately for mothers seeking maternity services at Ayer and 250 other Health Centres III in the country, Sister Adiambo and hundreds of her colleagues nationwide soon won’t have to perform such acrobatics trying to bring children into the world. Thanks to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) Health Facility Solar Electrification (HFSE) intervention being implemented with UNICEF and the Ministry of Health, 250 health centres across Uganda are being fitted with solar electricity installations to ensure a constant, uninterrupted power supply. This will not only guarantee full-time lighting but also run all vital medical equipment to ensure uninterrupted delivery of critical services. 

As UNICEF’s HFSE consultant Lokesh Sharma explains, the programme being implemented under the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform aims at raising awareness in communities that health facilities will soon have a reliable power supply, which ensures proper storage of medicines and use of modern functional equipment. People will thus no longer be discouraged from seeking health services, as they will be assured of adequate care within their reach and will be counted on to safeguard the solar-powered systems as their own.

Indeed, Saul Odyek, the clinical officer in charge of the 16-bed health facility that conducts 60 deliveries a month, cannot wait for the day in a couple of weeks when installation will be complete. Standing at the site, which is already prepared for mounting the solar panels, Odyek can hardly hide his excitement as he exclaims.

“Imagine we have suspended testing for TB because there is no piped water in the lab, but only rainwater there from the dusty roof, which tampers with the results in sensitive tests. I hope someone will provide a pump to channel water to taps in the lab now that uninterrupted power can be supplied around the facility,” says Odyek.

Sister Adiambo too, is also praying that with the electricity supply guaranteed, investments will soon be made to ensure the maternity ward gets running water. “That will make the health centre actually healthy,” she says.

In the next sub-county at Amomwa Health Centre III in Dokolo District, where the solar electrification installation is complete, we find the 15 staff all in high spirits.

A UNICEF Uganda solar engineer consultant, Abdeel Kyezira who is already packing up his gear to move to the next location, takes us through the solar electrification journey, starting at the micro solar farm with several panels and ending at the power room, where the direct current generated is converted to alternating current for distribution and use.  He explains that the system is set to work for ten years before any upgrade would be needed. Abdeel says the installed system completely replaces all previous, disjointed power installations at the facility. The lithium-ion batteries in the power room have a warranty of ten years.

Richard Joe, the facility’s clinical officer in charge whom we found busy initializing a brand-new fridge, says it has been in the store since 2022 but there was no point unpacking it without electricity supply. Now with the solar power available it is being put to work. For while the vaccine fridges have been working throughout using their standalone solar power sources, the new system ensures that all medicines and laboratory reagents are also safely stored.

Similarly, Florence Akello, who is in charge of midwifery at the facility, also shows off equipment that has been dormant but is now being put to use, including an oxygen machine in the kangaroo room. She is also excited at the prospect of being able to conduct deliveries anytime due to uninterrupted lighting.

“I don’t know why babies have this habit of coming at night,” she says with a knowing smile.

Whatever the reason for most babies arriving at night, Florence is at least sure there will now always be light to deliver them safely.

Expected outcomes from the programme:

• Communities are aware that health facilities now have reliable electricity, ensuring proper storage of medicines and the use of functional modern medical equipment.
• Reduced need for long-distance travel to far-off health facilities, as local centres are now better equipped to deliver effective services.
• Increased community knowledge about solar electricity and its role as a resource for local development.
• Active community participation in safeguarding the solar energy systems as shared assets that benefit all.

According to Lokesh Sharma, community engagement will facilitate local ownership, contributing to the long-term sustainability, operational oversight, and security of the deployed solar energy systems.