Last Updated on: 13th October 2023, 01:22 pm
Kampala I With the availability of high-capacity oxygen plants in some government hospitals across the country, its operation has often been interrupted by unstable power supplies – results of which lead to loss of lives.
Currently, most of the hospitals are on single-phase transformers with low capacity to run hospital machines – a problem Dr Jane Ruth Aceng – the health minister wants it addressed.
Speaking during a Parliamentary session on Wednesday, Dr Aceng – also the Lira City Woman MP, told Lawmakers that the electricity crisis in government hospitals is a matter the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development is aware of.
According to her, all the sixteen (16) regional referral hospitals need three-phase transformers.
Dr Aceng urged that all the mentioned hospitals should be connected to industrial lines which have higher voltage to run effectively.
Once the action is taken as Dr Aceng demands, the intensive care units (ICUs) will be uninterruptedly functional and the lives of those being managed in it will be saved.
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Relatedly, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa told Ugandans through Parliament on Wednesday that by 2030 all Ugandans would have access to electricity.
“The country is targeting to achieve 100 per cent access by 2030 given the current progress. The sector requires funds to implement the project to take us to this target,” said Nankabirwa.
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Some MPs told her their constituencies including key government establishments are engulfed in darkness.
The energy consumption in hospitals is more compound than that of ordinary public buildings. The hospital’s major energy consumption is for lighting, ventilation equipment; elevators and air conditioning.