Air quality, energy and health

When health-care facilities have reliable electricity, vital medical equipment and appliances can be powered, life-saving vaccines and medicines can be preserved, and women can safely give birth. Electricity is also needed to power the most basic services in health-care facilities – from lighting and communications to clean water supply. Yet, close to 1 billion people in low- and lower-middle-income countries are estimated to be served by health-care facilities without reliable electricity access or with no electricity access at all (WHO, World Bank, IRENA & SEforALL, 2023). In low- and lower-middle-income countries of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 12% and 15% of health-care facilities, respectively, have no access to electricity whatsoever. Even in cases when electricity supply is available, generators are often not operational, and facilities are often underserved, with energy supply being insufficient to cover all the needs of the facility, risking the health of many.