Healthcare in the Dark
How a solar mini-grid is improving health services in a remote part of Papua New Guinea
Babies are always born at night.
At least that’s what it feels like to Sister Freda Wai, a nurse’s aide who has worked for 12 years in the maternity ward of Pimaga Rural Hospital, delivering hundreds of babies in a remote part of Papua New Guinea’s Highlands region.
Until 2023, the hospital relied on generators running a few hours a day to supply light and electricity. This meant the hospital was not eligible for a full time doctor, it had no refrigeration to store blood, and many babies were born in the dark.
Sister Freda often had to deliver babies at night, holding a flashlight and boiling water on wood stoves to sanitize medical instruments.
If the mother needed a blood transfusion during or after childbirth, it could take up to four days to reach the nearest hospital with blood storage, and many women died in transit.
Now, thanks to a partnership between USAID and private sector partner Santos Foundation, Sister Freda and the rest of the hospital staff have access to 24-hour electricity, and babies are no longer delivered in the dark. Through the Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership, USAID supported the installation of a solar-powered mini-grid in March of this year to provide electrical power to the hospital and staff housing.
For Sister Freda, the impact of the mini-grid was immediate. Soon after the switch-on ceremony, the hospital welcomed a premature baby boy through a complicated nighttime delivery that would have been nearly impossible without 24-hour electricity provided by the solar mini-grid. Through phototherapy equipment powered by the mini-grid, the premature baby was able to survive and undergo treatment close to home, rather than be referred to a larger regional hospital.
“The boy’s successful delivery and survival would not have been possible at Pimaga before the mini-grid,” said Sister Freda.
The solar mini-grid provided by USAID and Santos Foundation has not only changed new mom Christina and her baby’s lives but is also improving health care service delivery at the hospital.
With this electricity, the hospital will expand its laboratory services, add more cold-store equipment, and open a radiology unit.
The matron of Pimaga Rural Hospital, Pauline Rex, said, “Since the solar mini-grid has been installed, we have power for 24 hours a day. A functioning fridge will store blood, and blood transfusion services will be given here. Our problems are solved with this mini-grid electrification.”
The installation at Pimaga is the first mini-grid contributing to the USAID-PEP project’s goal of building 20 such grids across rural Papua New Guinea.
About the Authors
Jennifer Plantin is a Senior Program Management Specialist for RTI International, helping implement USAID’s Papua New Guinea Electrification Project. Lesli Davis is USAID’s Development Outreach and Communications Specialist for Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
