Somalia has turned to solar power in rebuilding a health system recovering from a protracted conflict that has taken a significant toll on its public health infrastructures.
In January 2021, Somalia’s Ministry of Health, supported by the WHO Innovation hub and the WHO Country Office, piloted a solar-powered oxygen delivery system in Hanano General hospital in Galmudug state, working closely with a collaboration of thirteen development, humanitarian, and global health agencies under a Global Action Plan for SDG3 (SDG3-GAP). The collaboration seeks, among other things, to support countries in matching demand with the supply of implementation-ready innovations to accelerate progress toward the health-related goals of the SDG. The collaboration was further enriched by the expertise of the innovator behind the solution, Dr Michael Hawkes, and critical transition-to-scale funding from Grand Challenges Canada.
The outcomes have been remarkable. The solar-powered oxygen system has come to symbolize life for Somalian children in a country where pneumonia accounts for at least one-fifth (15 160) of deaths among children under five years. For example, Abdiaziz Omar Abdi, a two-year-old child in severe distress, was admitted to Hanano hospital in March 2021 with oxygen levels of 60 percent, down from the required minimum level of 90 percent. Doctors immediately put him on oxygen along with ampicillin and dexamethasone medications. Abdiaziz would probably not have survived had he come in sick three months earlier. But three days later, his oxygen level was up to 90 percent, and he was discharged alive and well. “I came because my child was unwell, he was not breathing properly, he was not breastfeeding,” says relieved mother, Zahra. “Now he is breastfeeding. He is feeling well.” Moreover, Abdiaziz received the treatment at no cost.
Abdiaziz is one of the hundred others who have accessed life-saving oxygen in Hanano hospital to bounce back to life from life-threatening medical conditions such as asphyxia, pneumonia, injuries, trauma, and road traffic accidents. The innovation has also significantly shortened hospital stay, with in-patient hospitalization averaging one day from five days pre-installation.
The value adds from the innovation extends even further. For example, the solar-powered apparatus met electricity needs during frequent power interruptions to maintain the vaccine cold chain and strengthen other aspects of service delivery. An essential consequence is unlocking demand and improving healthcare seeking among catchment communities and populations. “Now, we bring our children to Hanano hospital to live and no longer die,” said Zahra, Abdulaziz’s mother.
“This innovation has brought life back to this hospital; we now have people who come to our hospital from as far as 100 kilometres away”, says Dr Mohamed Abdi, the director of Hanaano hospital. “This is the first time I have seen how one timely investment can save lives. Last year, sadly, more than 180 patients died in the hospital due to a lack of oxygen. Many of them were children. This system will save many lives. If this innovation is used widely in Somalia, it can save the lives of …….
