I N D U S T R Y I N V E S T I G A T I O N
OFF-GRID SOLAR ENERGY ALLEVIATES LABOUR CHALLENGES IN RURAL AFRICA
Six hundred health clinics across sub-Saharan Africa are able to provide care and treatment to patients outside of daylight hours , thanks to solar-powered lights and off-grid energy systems provided by d . light . As a result , the clinics can extend their operating hours including for expectant mothers in labour who would otherwise have given birth in darkness . This move is another accomplishment for d . light , who work as a global provider of transformational household products and for low-income households and communities in the developing world .
The World Health Organization ( WHO ) estimates that close to one billion people in low- and lower-middleincome countries are served by healthcare facilities without reliable electricity access or with no electricity access at all . According to WHO , 15 % of healthcare facilities lack any access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa , whilst only 50 % of hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa report reliable energy access .
Lack of electricity is a major barrier to the delivery of quality healthcare services and one that particularly impacts rural communities across the continent . According to UNICEF , the lifetime risk of maternal
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