STORY: Kenyan forum calls for electrifying Africa's healthcare facilities to ease disease burden
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 3, 2025
DATELINE: Feb. 4, 2025
LENGTH: 00:02:40
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the conference
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): STEPHEN NZIOKA, Director of Renewable Energy in Kenya's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum
3. various of the conference
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): SALVATORE VINCI, Technical lead of Healthcare Facilities Electrification at WHO

STORYLINE:

Senior policymakers, experts, investors, and innovators are attending the Energizing Healthcare 2025 summit that runs from Monday to Tuesday in Nairobi, which is expected to chart a new pathway for enhancing the resilience and competence of Africa's healthcare systems through electrification.
   
The two-day summit has been organized by Kenya's Ministries of Health and Energy in conjunction with international partners including Sustainable Energy for All, an international green lobby, and the Health and Energy Platform of Action that is hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
   
Stephen Nzioka, the director of Renewable Energy in Kenya's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, said that electrifying health facilities in remote outposts will be key to easing Africa's high disease burden that has worsened poverty and inequality.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): STEPHEN NZIOKA, Director of Renewable Energy in Kenya's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum   
"Twenty-five percent is majorly off-grid. We have the Kenyan solar access project that is ending by 2026. So far, we are kicking off the project maybe this month or next month, where we are going to have 114 mini-grids being constructed and over 350 solar home systems for public facilities."

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 25,000 healthcare facilities operate without electricity while an additional 70,000 have unreliable power connections, according to Nzioka.
   
"These profound gaps impact healthcare delivery, hindering access to diagnostics, life-saving treatment and medical services," Nzioka said, emphasizing the nexus between energy access, climate resilience and better health outcomes in the continent.

Nzioka stressed that connecting off-grid health facilities in Africa with renewable energy will be key to sustaining routine immunization, motivating healthcare workers and enhancing the delivery of essential commodities such as diagnostics and medicine.

Salvatore Vinci, the technical lead of Healthcare Facilities Electrification at WHO, emphasized that investments in reliable, clean and stable power supply will be pivotal to the delivery of quality but affordable healthcare services in Africa.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): SALVATORE VINCI, Technical lead of Healthcare Facilities Electrification at WHO   
"The opportunity that we have in Africa with the solar resources, it's a great opportunity. It's allowing new growth. We need to provide electricity access, benefiting and leveraging on decentralized solar systems. Decentralized solar systems in health care facilities are reliable, are climate resilient, and are cost-effective compared to other solutions."

Vinci acknowledged the continent's abundant clean energy sources like solar and wind that could be harnessed to connect off-grid health facilities that are grappling with an influx of patients suffering from infectious diseases.
   
"We need to leverage decentralized solar systems that are reliable, climate resilient and cost-effective," Vinci said, calling for action on policy, funding and capacity bottlenecks that have hindered the uptake of clean energy in Africa's health sector.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)