Health centre receives solar unit

National
Source:
The National, Friday July 15th, 2016

A Soro mother safely delivered a newborn child thanks to a newly installed solar lighting system At the remote Inu Health Centre in Kutubu, Southern Highlands.
The centre is run by the Evangelical Church of PNG and has been providing health services to the people of the area for many years. But recently it required some urgent repairs.
These were made by the Oil Search Foundation to restore adequate water supply to the centre and provide lighting to the maternity rooms to facilitate clean and safe deliveries.
A new solar unit now powers the lighting at the health centre so that staff can conduct emergency procedures and supervise mothers in labour at night.
Less than a week after the Oil Search Foundation had installed the solar unit, the Soro mother was in labour and admitted at the health centre after dark.
After giving birth to a healthy baby, the mother developed severe haemorrhage.
Nurse-in-charge Rodney Alu said without adequate lighting, the midwife would not have been able to detect the problem and reduce the bleeding to prevent further complications or even death.
“Such procedures are normally done at bigger hospitals, however we were successful because there was reliable lighting in the room that night, giving the mother a real chance,” Alu said.
The solar unit that the Oil Search Foundation installed does more than just providing lighting. The solar system is a 1000 watt unit capable of also powering a radio, vaccine fridge, water pump and mobile phones. It can store and provide power for up to six days during poor weather conditions.