Reliable power is critical for effective responses to COVID-19 and other diseases. Virtually all diagnostic tests for active COVID-19 infection currently require electricity, according to an article on the Brookings website.
Plus, patients who need further diagnosis or treatment with ventilators or oxygen masks have to be placed in clinics with reliable power; outages for even a few minutes can be disastrous.
Electricity powers sanitization and cleaning equipment and pumped clean water are also necessary for preventing the spread of infection.
But recent data on electricity access in health facilities suggests that 25 percent of health clinics in six surveyed countries (Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Niger) lack power.
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