Inside the walls of the Nav Jivan Hospital in India’s Palamu district, doctors run from bed to bed treating their patients. Many of the beds in their facility are for people with COVID-19, who may need ventilators as part of their treatment. Aside from the ventilators, the hospital is filled with the sounds of electricity: heart monitors, lights and other necessities for an effective health facility. But, unlike many hospitals in rural India and elsewhere, the doctors do not have to worry about what would happen if the power went out.

医院依靠安全，可靠的能量来治疗患者，缺乏权力可能对寻求治疗的人有害（即使不是致命）。Nav Jivan面临许多对农村医院常见的运营挑战，尤其是由于电供应不稳定和定期电压波动。这就是为什么1月，Nav Jivan在其场所安装了10千瓦峰（KWP）太阳能光伏（PV）系统的原因。

太阳能使NAV Jivan医院能够建立弹性，并具有可靠的电力来治疗Covid-19患者。照片由Nav Jivan医院照片。
太阳能使NAV Jivan医院能够建立弹性，并具有可靠的电力来治疗Covid-19患者。照片由Nav Jivan医院照片

This technology has given the hospital a new lease on life. Although the system doesn’t meet the energy needs of the entire hospital, it has improved its electricity capacity and stabilized its most critical operations in the intensive care unit.

太阳能的举动使医院在关键时间更具弹性。当Covid-19开始在世界各地蔓延，政府努力在城市和农村地区建立合格的医疗支持，这家小型医院已经准备好了。农村地区由于大流行而面临独特的风险concerningmany global health experts, and Nav Jivan shows the life-saving value of sustainable energy in areas where electricity remains unreliable.

农村医疗保健和Covid-19

COVID-19 has expanded its footprint across India, with over264,944 active cases and 20,642 deaths截至7月8日。一种强大的弹性医疗保健系统被确定为遏制其传播至关重要。

在任何普通的一天，由于位置，偏远地区的医疗保健中心面临挑战。有限获取资源，医疗用品和设备；员工短缺和其他因素。冠状病毒大流行使这些医院挣扎。

66％of India’s populationresides in villages, making the need to prepare rural healthcare infrastructure and sub-centers for the crisis extremely urgent. As of 2019,至少30％在14个州为社区提供基本医疗保健的子中心（SC）没有电力连接。这占全国近40,000 sc。尽管初级卫生中心（PHC）更有可能拥有电力，但印度几乎没有800名PHC没有它。数据表明，人口在20,000至50,000之间的城市占超过一半在7月初确认的Covid-19案件。

Nav Jivan Hospital, which serves over 450 villages, has beds designated for COVID-19 patients in the area. Photo by Nav Jivan Hospital.
Nav Jivan Hospital, which serves over 450 villages, has beds designated for COVID-19 patients in the area. Photo by Nav Jivan Hospital

Nav Jivan is one of the main healthcare facilities in Jharkhand state in eastern India.Over 75%of the state’s population resides in rural areas. Palamu, a district in Jharkhand, is in the state’stop 15 districts受互联19的影响。该医院服务于450多个村庄，在重症监护室准备了严重和中度病例的床。

Nav Jivan医院多年来采取的主动步骤（以及最近通过分散的太阳能强化其电力供应）在增强自力更生和提高这家农村医院的灾难管理能力方面发挥了重要作用。

Strengthening Health Systems with Reliable Energy

Nav Jivan’s progress and advancement in facilities was based on years of judicious planning and forethought. For several years, limited infrastructure required the hospital to perform surgeries and child deliveries with flashlights and petromax lamps.

当它获得三相电网连接时，情况大大改善，但是电压波动加上频繁和长时间的停电继续阻碍操作。此外，季风期间不可避免地损坏电网导致停电时间延长，迫使医院依靠昂贵（每年高达13,000美元或100万卢比）和污染柴油发电机。

In addition to increased pollution, depending on diesel generators cost Nav Jivan Hospital thousands of dollars a year. Photo by WRI India.
In addition to increased pollution, depending on diesel generators cost Nav Jivan Hospital thousands of dollars a year. Photo by WRI India

Even as the hospital administration searched for alternatives, a doctor who was part of the team made an investment towards the end of last year, funding the installation of its first solar PV system. This 10kWp system takes care of the hospital’s most critical needs, functioning as the primary source of power for running equipment required for treating COVID-19 patients. Solar energy powers the ICU ventilators, including additional ventilators procured from the state for emergencies.

创建弹性的农村卫生系统

这种大流行对世界社区造成了破坏，可能是印度农村医疗保健局势的转折点 - 只要我们通过可持续的，节能的系统来学习并增强了我们的能力。专注于抛弃社区必须是建立弹性和增强我们医疗保健系统的准备的一部分。

Nav Jivan is an example of how, with improved access to reliable energy, rural hospitals can upgrade basic and critical-care services. Decentralized renewable energy can empower rural hospitals by providing uninterrupted services, reducing diesel costs and pollution and improving financial efficiency. To achieve this, it is important to build national- and state-level dialogue on the need for resilient healthcare delivery systems through integrated policies, sustainable technology solutions and innovative financing models.

WRI’s Energy program is currently studying the role of energy for development in some of East African countries’ and India’s most vulnerable areas. In Jharkhand, the team is working with rural hospitals like Nav Jivan to improve access to reliable, sustainable and affordable source of power. Learn more about their workhere。