A new twist on the use of renewable energy is saving children's lives in Africa. The innovation--a solar powered oxygen delivery system--is providing concentrated oxygen in hospital for children suffering from severe pneumonia.
The device created by Dr. Michael Hawkes, an assistant professor in the University of Alberta's Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, is the focus of a recently published study in The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and is already in use in two hospitals in Uganda.
"Solar-powered oxygen is using freely available resources--the sun and air--to treat children with pneumonia in the most remote settings," says Hawkes. "It's very gratifying for a pediatrician doing research in a lower-resource setting to fill a clinical gap and save lives. It's what our work is all about."
A new twist on the use of renewable energy is saving children's lives in Africa. The innovation--a solar powered oxygen delivery system--is providing concentrated oxygen in hospital for children suffering from severe pneumonia.
The device created by Dr. Michael Hawkes, an assistant professor in the University of Alberta's Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, is the focus of a recently published study in The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and is already in use in two hospitals in Uganda.
"Solar-powered oxygen is using freely available resources--the sun and air--to treat children with pneumonia in the most remote settings," says Hawkes. "It's very gratifying for a pediatrician doing research in a lower-resource setting to fill a clinical gap and save lives. It's what our work is all about."
Each year, 900,000 children die of pneumonia worldwide with most deaths taking place in Africa and Asia. Vaccinations and medications exist, but are being rolled out slowly in Africa where diagnostics are poor and chest x-rays are not readily available.
Children with severe pneumonia have infected lungs that need concentrated oxygen until antibiotics begin to work. The concentrated oxygen helps overcome a problem with oxygen exchange caused by the lung infection. In Canada, it is available at the bedside in every hospital room. In developing countries like Uganda, it's harder to come by reliably.
Hawkes worked in Ugandan hospitals in the communities of Kambuga and Jinja for over two years where he quickly recognized a need for a more reliable oxygen source. In low-resource settings, oxygen can be delivered using cylinders, which are often in short supply, or concentrators, which depend on electricity. In Kambuga there were multiple power outages each day, some lasting for up to 48 hours.
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Solar Panels on a Rooftop via NASA
