Santé Solaire
Improved healthcare in rural regions of Africa
Light for Huiléhoé
Togo
Experience first-hand the installation of a solar system at a rural health centre in Togo: In this video, local people give direct insights into the Santé Solaire programme.
Context and challenges
In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of all health centres have no or only unreliable access to electricity – one of the biggest challenges for working medical care.
When night falls, many of these facilities are in the dark. Due to a lack of alternatives, healthcare staff often use less suitable solutions such as flashlights.
In Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo, the lack of light significantly impairs the quality of medical care, makes emergency treatment more difficult and endangers patients, especially women giving birth and newborn babies, with sometimes fatal consequences.
In a health care facility, electricity is not a luxury – it is a necessity to save lives.
Our approach
The Santé Solaire programme harnesses the power of the sun to supply rural health care facilities with sustainable, uninterrupted energy. Within three years, 47 health centres in Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo will be equipped with high-quality solar systems. These enable lighting around the health centres and in the rooms, the operation of ventilators and – at selected locations – the cooling of vaccines using solar-powered refrigerators.
The health personnel receive repeated trained in the operation, maintenance and use of the systems. Local solar companies carry out repairs when necessary. To ensure long-term functionality, local stakeholders are involved and the population is actively integrated into planning and construction. The project also promotes the exchange of knowledge between the programme countries in order to learn from each other and exploit synergies.
Since
Annual budget
Current programme phase
Implementation partner
- Entreprise SETHI, Burkina Faso
- Kekeli (club), Togo
- Association Conscientization et Réflexion pour la Promotion de l'Elevage (ACRPE), Niger
Targets 2023-2025
- Within three years, the basic electricity requirements of 47 health centres will be sustainably covered.
- Medical care in disadvantaged communities has improved significantly for around 365,000 people.
- CO₂ emissions are reduced or preventively avoided.
- Local expertise in the installation, maintenance and operation of solar technology is strengthened.
Effect
The impact of the Santé Solaire programme can be seen where it is needed most: in people’s everyday lives. Healthcare workers can work safely at night, medical interventions are more precise and less risky, and patients now seek help even in the dark – without having to wait until the morning.
A doctor from the Toangha health center in Burkina Faso reports: “In the past, I often had to look for a way to insert an infusion in complete darkness. That was risky. Thanks to the solar system, that’s a thing of the past.”
The light also has an effect outside the treatment rooms: “At night, we now orient ourselves by the light of the health center in our village. Children even come here to study in the evening, it has become our meeting place,” says Mariam, a patient at the Gorpil-la health center in Burkina Faso.
Solar electrification is a crucial step towards making health care in Africa more accessible, more reliable and of higher quality – now and in the future.
Once the current phase has been completed, the Santé Solaire programme will be continued in a further developed form.
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365,000 people
