The straining effects of energy poverty on health:
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- Most rural health centres are not connected to the national grid. Even those that are, often don’t have sufficient back-up facilities for blackouts or budgets from their District governments to pay ESCOM bills regularly.Most rural health centres are not connected to the national grid. Even those that are, often don’t have sufficient back-up facilities for blackouts or budgets from their District governments to pay ESCOM bills regularly.
- Many modern medical technologies depend on electricity. Lifesaving operations, examinations (e.g. radiographic examination) and medical procedures (e.g. oxygen supply) cannot take place without it. In addition, there is a need for proper storage of vaccines, blood supplies, organs and medications.
- In some areas, women have to deliver in candle light or are sent back home. Not rarely, complications cannot be treated and end in death or life-long damage just because of the lack of light.
- As various newspaper articles show interrupted energy supply leads to a worsening of the patient´s condition and might even end in death.
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- Most Malawians rely on wood and charcoal as cooking fuels on an everyday basis. When being burned on poorly ventilated open fires or inefficient stoves they produce high levels of household air pollution with a range of health-damaging pollutants, including small soot particles that penetrate deep into the lungs. This makes whole families vulnerable to in-door-air-pollution related diseases. Mostly effected are the ones who cook as they have to lean over the fire and inhale smoke and soot over several hours on a daily basis.
- Inhaling fume has tremendous effects on one´s health and leads to noncommunicable diseases including stroke, heart disease, pneumonia and lung cancer. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), indoor air pollution is one of the leading causes of death in the world killing 4 million people each year. [7]
- Collecting firewood exposes people to risks they might be afraid of but have no choice to evade from (e.g. many cases of rape of women appear in remote forest areas).
- Another health burden has been the use of kerosene/paraffin lamps as they emit lung-harming gases which equal smoking two packets of cigarettes. Fortunately, their use has dropped to a rate of 2.4% in 2016/17.[8]